Possessed
by xCastielsGirlx
Summary: A ghost hunting crew, a boy who doesn't believe in ghosts, and a haunting. Uzumaki Naruto doesn't believe that his house is haunted; doesn't believe in ghosts. But when mysterious, phenomena start to happen, his guardian can't help but want to call in the experts. Little does Naruto know, he's tied to the events more than he'd like to think. SasuNaru
1. Chapter 1

**Possessed**

**xCastielsGirlx**

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**Author's Note:** I'm so sorry this is late! Basically, I went to a party, and I got a bit...herpy derpy and my friend said I could stay at theirs, then that changed o I ended up locked outside my house in the garden trying to make a fire in the fire pit buuuut I ended up using candles and blah de blah- basically, I have a headache, and I' cold. But nevertheless, I really hope you guys enjoy this!

**Warnings:** Supernatural horror, swearing, violence, some themes people may find upsetting, and Naruto may seem a little OOC (as in: he studies! Le gasp!) I'm still undecided on the SasuNaru- but there will be strong hints.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns all Naruto characters. I am making no profit from this story.

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**This story is a work of fiction. Any reference to any people, dead or alive, is purely coincidental, as well as places and events. This is in no way meant to portray the real world and is meant for entertainment purposes only. If you have a problem, please PM me. Other than that, Enjoy!**

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_For Katie and Amy,_

_My Little Sammy and Adam._

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**1.**

"Hey, Naruto, do you believe in ghosts?" Kiba Inuzuka- a burly brunet with glaring, red tattooed cheeks- leant over the science bench to ask his classmate the question. Cerulean blue eyes locked with chocolate brown and the blond scoffed.

"Who believes in shit like that? Once you die, that's it. There is no Heaven, no Hell, no purgatory and- most of all- no 'ghosts'," the blond replied, insinuating the quotation marks with his fingers. Kiba frowned at his best friend's attitude to the question he had so simply asked and tilted his head.

"But you study Theology, right? And don't you want to go on to be a forensic scientist?" he quizzed, following the blond eighteen year old to the front desk where he collected the matches for his Bunsen burner. Naruto Uzumaki sighed and turned harshly on the spot to face his friend. His face was pulled into a grim expression, tugging at the three scars on each cheek as his face adorned the look.

"Kiba, I'm holding a box of matches here, do you really want me to set you on fire for pressing the issue?" The brunet went to say something, but Naruto cut him off with a small shove to the side.

"I gave you my answer to your question- what more is there to say?" Naruto explained, turning on the gas and lighting the piece of science equipment, before placing a conical flask of hydrochloric acid on a gauze and tripod and setting it above the blue flame. Kiba shrugged and leant against the workbench next to the Bunsen burner.

"I dunno; I just wanna know why you think that way." Kiba shrugged. Naruto eyed Kiba's jacket sleeve.

"You're on fire, Kiba," he commented lightly, taking notes in his workbook. Kiba smirked before flipping his hair out of his face and scratching the stubble on his chin.

"Thanks. But seriously, does this have something to do with when we bought that-"

"Kiba! Your arm is on fire!" Naruto yelled at the brunet, thankful for the distraction. Kiba yelped and patted at his arm.

"Fuck! Why didn't you say?" he panicked, racing to the sink to put the fire out with water. Naruto chuckled and returned to his notes.

"I did, dog-breath," he replied, turning off the gas tap and removing the flask of acid with a pair of tongs. Kiba shed his now ruined jacket and glared at the blond.

"You did that on purpose to distract me!" he hissed, looking to the blond's slightly red fingers, indicating they'd been lightly burned. Naruto shrugged.

"I did say I'd burn you for pressing the issue," he replied nonchalantly. Kiba's jaw dropped.

"Seriously, Naru? Are you still shaken up about it? It was ten years ago!" Kiba protested, grabbing Naruto's shirt as he turned to walk away. The blond stopped in his tracks and glared at his best friend. Kiba glared back.

"You need to get over it!" Kiba snapped, squeezing slightly on the shorter boy's arm. Naruto's eyes narrowed, making the blue appear icy instead of the usual summer's day that they usually were. Summer replaced with winter.

"Kiba, I watched my mother die that night. I watched as she choked on her own blood and I couldn't do a damned thing about it!" he growled lowly.

"I will _not_ 'get over it' as you say. I carry the burden on me for the rest of my life," he snarled. Kiba growled in response.

"And that's why you don't believe in Heaven and Hell-or even Purgatory- you can't wait to be released from that burden," he hissed lowly, earning another heated glare from the blond.

"Fuck you! If I had a choice, I would've put myself forward that evening. So don't preach what you don't know!" he snapped, tearing his arm from the strong grip the brunet had on him.

"We need to get this work done before Asuma-sensei gets back," he muttered, adding a few chemicals to the heated hydrochloric acid. Kiba watched his friend's back and movements, noticing he was slightly hunched over. He walked over to the blond and decided to help him out, adding a few pipettes phenolphthalein to test the pH of the solution.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just that that was my favourite jacket," Kiba tried to joke. Naruto chuckled slightly and rubbed at his eyes, indicating tiredness. Kiba frowned when his eyes caught bruises on the blond's wrists, and then there were the bags under his eyes, which enticed the brunet into the sea of curiosity even more.

"What happened to your wrists?" he asked casually. Naruto glanced down and rolled up the sleeves of his orange shirt to view the midnight blue bruises around his wrists. He frowned and poked them, wincing when it hurt.

"I don't know. I must've sprained them somehow in my sleep," he muttered, rubbing at his eyes once more. Kiba hummed at the action.

"Did you get much sleep last night? You look exhausted," he asked, concerned for his friend. Naruto looked to the brunet and smiled slightly.

"I tried my best to get to sleep; I kept on having weird nightmares," he replied. He shuddered as a chill ran down his spine- a feeling similar of that of an ice cube being thrown down the back of his shirt. Kiba frowned further and sat on the desk next to his friend but a smirk then took over his features.

"Clowns or midgets?" he joked. Naruto looked up, catching brown with blue and an amused smirk.

"Well, seeing as it was you; both," he commented, earning another snicker.

"Dude, you're like, what? Seven inches shorter than me? What does that make you?" Kiba asked, avoiding the fist that was sent his way with a laugh. Naruto continued to make swipes at the boy, leaning over the table.

"Dammit Kiba, get your ass over here so I can hit you!" he stressed, leaning over the table still, knocking the flask of heated acid onto his workbook. Kiba froze, watching as the solution smudged its way out of the flask, onto the notes and onto his- burnt- jacket. Naruto blinked, the action then being mirrored by his lab partner. It took two seconds for any reaction to take place. Kiba wailed, and Naruto swore, trying to scoop the mixture back into the flask with his notebook that was slowly disintegrating.

"Shit, SHIT!" Naruto yelled, whilst Kiba cried over his jacket, running to- yet again- douse it with tap water.

"What do you have against my jacket, Naru?" he sobbed, whilst the blond tried to save his book and the desk.

"Asuma-sensei's going to kill us!" he moaned, holding up the now contaminated solution.

"_US?_! It was _you!_" Kiba screeched, eyeing the table that was slowly growing a hole where the flask had spilt. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"You were the one sitting on the desk in the first place and crawling over it when I tried to hit you!" Naruto snapped. Kiba snorted.

"What, so I'm just supposed to let you _hit_ me?" Kiba asked, eyeing his now-ruined-beyond-repair jacket.

"_Yes!_" Naruto stressed out, sighing when he realised they'd have to start the experiment again. He eyed the clock, noticing it was coming up to three o'clock in the afternoon. They wouldn't have time- class finished in ten minutes. Squinting into his burnt book, Naruto tried to make out what was left of his notes- also scouring his memory- for the information he'd learned. He'd write up his report of what he'd found out up until that moment.

"Dude, we're gunna have to come in tomorrow," Naruto sighed. Kiba repeated the notion and just looked to Naruto.

"I can't believe we have to come in on our day off," he muttered. Naruto shrugged and copied out the notes he needed into his spare pukka pad in his 'A-Level Chemistry' section. Kiba looked over the blond's shoulder as he scrawled down the notes in his almost-girlish handwriting.

"Dude, you have girl handwriting," Kiba noted as he pulled his own notebook towards himself and started to copy his partner's notes. Naruto snorted at the remark and rolled his eyes.

"At least teachers can read my writing, unlike _your_ chicken scratch," he snorted once more when Kiba flushed a light red colour. There came a gentle knock at the science classroom door and both teens looked up.

"Come in," they invited simultaneously. The door opened, revealing a girl their age with pale eyes and dark purple hair cascading down her back. Kiba looked completely smitten with the girl whilst Naruto smirked knowingly.

"Good afternoon, Hinata-chan. What do you need?" Naruto asked politely. He admitted the girl was beautiful, but she wasn't for his taste- no girl was- and so he thought of being generous and helping his love-drunk friend out when Hinata stated her request.

"Kurenai-sensei requires some textbooks and we don't have them. Are they in here?" she asked politely. Naruto nodded and jabbed a thumb to the large pile.

"Kiba, help the girl out would'ya?" Naruto told the brunet, who looked to his friend with adoration swimming in his eyes. As Hinata walked past, Kiba mouthed a small 'Thank you' to his friend, who just shrugged in return before the two exited the classroom, leaving him alone. Naruto sighed at the silence and shuddered when he felt a coldness enshroud him. He looked to the clock and saw that it was five minutes past three. The blond packed up his notes, taking Kiba's book with him, as he knew the brunet would probably not manage to write up his own notes or report that evening. As he slipped all the books into his faded orange side bag, he felt a breeze on his neck and turned slowly, only for there to be nothing there. The blond shivered and resumed packing his things away when the conical flask- which had been innocently sitting on the surrounding workbench next to the Bunsen burner- rolled off the workbench and smashed by the blond's feet. Naruto cursed and stepped away from the glass and destructive mixture, turning on the spot to find something with which he could clean up the mess.

"Fuck," he hissed quietly, dashing around the room, finding a metal dustpan. Shrugging, the blond used that to scoop the mixture up with and dump back in a waste beaker at the front.

"Stupid chemicals- being all toxic," he muttered.

"Looking like that freaky Flubber, but all grey and skanky," Naruto continued to grumble as he snatched up his other used equipment and placed it back in its rightful places. He left a note on his teacher's desk, informing him that he and Kiba would be back the next day to finish off their report and project work. He let out a relieved sigh as he left the school building, the cloud of mist coming from his mouth seeming natural in the cold weather.

The blond made his way down the street, pulling his orange jacket around himself tighter, school bag swinging at his side. A vibrating in his pocket alerted him to the fact he had a text, and he pulled his device out, smirking when it was just a winking face from Kiba. Naruto chuckled and texted back a short 'Good luck,' before putting his phone back into his pocket and continuing down the road. He passed by the cemetery that was in the centre of his village and shuddered at the vibes it was emitting. Glancing into the cemetery, Naruto noticed a tall figure watching him. The blond frowned, bowing his head down low and pulling his hood up as he increased his pace down the road. He didn't know why, but he felt like he was being watched; followed. It made his heart thump in his chest and he had the desiring urge to run away, and just keep on running until the feeling left him. Naruto glanced slightly behind him, seeing just the empty street. But it didn't deter him. He could still feel eyes burning into the back of his skull.

And so he ran.

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, bag swinging like an over-worked pendulum as he blurred his way down a few more roads. Everybody he ran past looked the same, the voices all the same too. But there was different voice, and it was whispering his name.

"GO AWAY!" the blond yelled over his shoulder, still sprinting like a mad man back to where he knew his house to be, somewhere safe. However, where he was running so fast, he didn't see the person he was heading straight for. In a tumble of limbs and curses, both people flew to the ground, the blond rolling over, ended up being pinned to the ground by the older male's body. Sapphire looked up into onyx and the former felt himself blush heavily.

"I'm so sorry sir," he breathed, pushing the man off him- but letting his touch linger- and sprinting away, still feeling the presence behind him. The older man stood up, glaring at the retreating boy's back before he felt a shadow flash past his person, giving off a feeling of immense dread and horror. Onyx eyes narrowed in calculation as he eyed the shadow- the shadow that seemed to be chasing the blond. His eye then caught the glaring orange notebook on the floor and he picked it up, noting the name and address before slipping it under his arm.

"What an idiot," the man mumbled, turning and walking in the opposite direction, hands stuffed deep into his jacket pockets, fisting a mobile phone which then vibrated, causing the pale slender fingers around it to twitch. Lightning fast, the man had whipped out his phone, staring at the screen intently. It was his guardian and mentor, Hatake Kakashi. The man smirked slightly as he read over the message. He rolled his eyes and shoved the phone back into his pocket. Thoughts of blonds and shadows were chased from his mind.

He had work to do.

Naruto continued to run down the street, thankful for the fact he used to take track classes in secondary school. His lungs were burning for air, however, as he didn't stop for any breaks. An oxygen debt was building up and he could feel his muscles twitching slightly, wanting to continue with aerobic respiration instead of the much less desired anaerobic respiration. The blond only stopped once he had rammed his keys into his door and pushed his way through the wooden portal to somewhere safe and tranquil- home. The very thought of the place made the blond relax and only then could he feel the results of his one-and-a-half mile sprint. He panted, dragging himself reluctantly into the kitchen for a glass of water, but less panicked than before. Shakily, his hands grabbed for a glass, the tingling sensation in them making it hard for him to have a proper grip. A shuffling of feet behind him made him tense. His breath froze in his throat, making his lungs protest once more from the lack of oxygen they were receiving.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" The blond let out his breath in a shaky sigh before chuckling and pulling the glass down from the cupboard.

"Yeah, I'm fine Iruka," he told his adoptive father with a shaky grin as he brought the glass to the tap and poured the cold water into the glass. He turned the tap off with a squeak and faced his adoptive father with a grin. Umino Iruka had taken Naruto in when he was nine years old. The blond had lost his mother a year before in a tragic accident and his birth father could never be traced. Naruto had wound up in an orphanage, only to be taken in about a year later by Iruka, a kind-eyed brunet with a scar across his nose who worked at the local junior school.

"You ran in so suddenly and you look as though you've run all the way from college," he commented, taking in the boy's ruffled and tired composure. Naruto just grinned his happy-go-lucky grin and Iruka smiled gently in return.

"I'm fine Iruka, honestly," he told his guardian, earning a pat on the shoulder in return.

"I worry about you sometimes, Naruto. Like last night, you must've been having one hell of a nightmare!" Iruka told the boy in wonderment. Naruto frowned.

"I still can't remember it though," he admitted, earning a squeeze on his shoulder.

"That's a good thing, though. You were screaming bloody murder," Iruka told the boy, shuddering slightly as he remembered the night just gone. He'd woken up at about half past three with a strange feeling before the blond had suddenly started screaming. Scared for his adoptive son, the brunet had run into the adjacent room to see him tossing and turning, screaming up a storm. It had taken ten minutes to wake the blond, and when he had, the blond was panicky, almost in tears and breathing heavily. Through the incoherent sobs, he could briefly make out a few broken phrases along the lines of 'so scary' and a phrase that had almost broken his heart: 'it got my mum'. The brunet had stayed up with the blond until the early hours, watching him nurse a hot chocolate as he himself had nursed a cup of black coffee.

"Are you sure you're oaky?" Iruka asked once more, wanting to make sure that everything was fine. Naruto nodded, sipping at his water to cool himself down.

"I'm honestly fine, Iruka. Trust me on this," he smiled, earning a soft smile in return as the brunet started to boil the kettle for his tea.

"I need to do my coursework," he told his adoptive father, who nodded in return as the blond made his way up the stairs.

"I'll call you down for dinner," the brunet told his adoptive son, who nodded and made his way to his bedroom, throwing his bag onto his bed. He opened it up, only to blink when he saw that his notebook was missing. He inwardly cursed. He must've dropped it when he crushed into the raven-haired man whilst running at such a high speed. Luckily, it had his name and address in it- should the man be kind enough to return it.

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**~Possessed~  
I**

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The raven-haired man entered through a mahogany door to kick his shoes off and collapse on the sofa in the adjacent room. He sighed, frowning when his thoughts rushed to the blond that had crashed into him earlier, and then the shadow that seemed to be chasing after him.

"Something on your mind?" The raven opened a closed eye to see his older brother walking in, nursing a cup of coffee. The elder brother, who had stress lines running from near his eyes and long hair that mirrored the younger's in colour and was pulled into a long, low ponytail, frowned at his younger brother.

"Hey Itachi," the younger greeted. The elder- Itachi- pushed his younger brother's feet off the sofa and sat down in the space they had been recently occupying.

"You didn't answer my question," the older commented, sipping at his hot coffee, grimacing when it burnt his tongue. The younger sighed, rubbing his temples and letting his eyes slip closed exhaustedly.

"I was run into today by a young man- about eighteen or so-" Itachi hummed in contemplation.

"Don't tell me he's 'coming over' tonight, Sasuke. We've talked about this and I thought we agreed no more one night stands!" he groaned. Sasuke- the younger brother- growled and kicked his older brother.

"Moron older brother, I ran into him, but something was chasing him," he told his older brother. Itachi hummed, taking another sip of his coffee, but being more careful not to burn his mouth.

"And when you say something, you mean a dog?" he joked dryly. Sasuke briefly wondered how long it would take to kill his brother and dispose if the body- then again, his brother might come back to haunt him. A pissed off ghost was one thing- but a pissed-off, ghost and immortal Itachi was something Sasuke never wanted to experience in his lifetime, or the next.

"No, I mean it was a shadow that was chasing him. It passed over me and I couldn't help but feel the intense evil," he shuddered, remembering the feeling that passed over him at the same time as the shadow. Itachi hummed in contemplation, only just seeing the notebook that was clutched in his brother's hands.

"What's that, Otouto?" he asked, pointing to the notebook. Sasuke eyed it briefly.

"Ah, this is the moron's notebook. He crashed into me and must've dropped it," he noted. Itachi nodded.

"Does our mysterious person have a name and an address?" he asked, staring at the glaring orange notebook with distaste before earning a nod in reply.

"Uzumaki Naruto, number six, Hokage Avenue. It also has his school address and class in it- it's almost as if he was expecting to lose it," Sasuke commented, reading the address and name from inside the front cover with a small, fond smile, picturing what type of person the blue eyed blond would be, and if he was batting for the same team that Sasuke was. It certainly had seemed so, judging by the way that he had grabbed the raven as they tumbled and the blush that had overtook his cheeks when they locked eyes.

"Uzumaki?" Itachi asked, suddenly rapt with interest and breaking Sasuke out of his musings. He started, before humming, glancing to the name written in an almost girlish way.

"Yup. Uzumaki Naruto," he told his older brother, who hummed and took another sip of his coffee. Sasuke glanced at his brother, noting the posture, which was slightly tense. His raven eyes narrowed, calculating his older brother.

"Do you know him?" he asked, a little sharply. Itachi turned to him slowly, regarding his younger brother's tense form, and the slight possessiveness in his eyes. A gentle smirk appeared on his lips around the rim of the mug. It disappeared, however, when he remembered why the Uzumaki name was so familiar.

"I've heard of him, and his mother. Do you remember?" he asked his little brother, who frowned as if tasting something funny for the first time. It was a contemplative frown, more of a look of confusion than anything else. His eyes widened as his mind brought to the surface a newspaper article that had been stowed away in his mind for ten years. Nobody could really forget it- the day where Uzumaki Kushina was slaughtered by something, leaving her only son to deal with the body and the supposed creature that had mauled the redhead. Sasuke shivered, remembering the front page those few days after the incident had happened. He had only been eleven at the time, after all, and had he not been in the paranormal business back then, it most probably would've scared him stiff to go anywhere near a wood out of fear of being mauled by the same monster that snagged the Uzumaki woman.

"I take it that you do remember," Itachi commented lightly, earning a nod in return. Itachi hummed, finishing his last dregs of coffee, grimacing slightly.

"Kakashi should be here soon with the work," he told Sasuke, who nodded in return once more, not sure on how he should react, knowing that he had crashed into the son of a murdered woman, not to mention called him an idiot- not that the moron knew it, he'd been too busy running away from whatever was pursuing him. Sasuke sighed, lacing his fingers together and leaning against them whilst his elbows were propped up against his thighs.

"Curious," he muttered to himself, thinking things over in his head.

"What's curious, Sasuke?" a bored voice asked, making the raven look up from where he was pondering. Onyx met with a calm grey and he blinked slightly at the sudden appearance of his guardian.

"Nothing," he muttered, sitting up properly, and leaning into the sofa in return. Hatake Kakashi smiled slightly, but it was covered by his mask. No one, not even his wards, knew why he wore it, or what his face looked like underneath it, and it had been the root of many pranks in the boys' childhood. He also had his left eye covered by a blue patch. The man claimed it had been lost in a fishing accident, and so the boys had left it at that, but had learned not to ask to see it- the last time they had- aged at only four and eight- been grounded for a week with no television, no pudding and a very grumpy guardian. The grey haired man had taken the boys in after their parents' death, and being a friend of the family, he had immediately accepted the offer when they were offered to him, wanting them to know how and why their parents had died. This was why the three were now a group of paranormal investigators- along with some other members-, trying to make the world a better place by banishing the boogeymen, sending away the spirits and destroying the demons.

"You got us a job?" Sasuke asked, prompting the older man to grin, his visible eye curving upwards into an upside-down 'U' shape.

"Would I deprive you of your work?" he asked sweetly, making the elder Uchiha snort as he walked into the lounge. Kakashi turned to Itachi, eye-smile still in place.

"Ah, Itachi! Nice of you to finally join us!" he commented sweetly, making the elder Uchiha grimace.

"Just get on with it Kakashi; I need to inform the others of when to meet up," Itachi sighed, rubbing his temples. Kakashi sighed, before handing the two a portfolio each.

"These are the clients- they're complaining about domestic disturbances, scratching in the walls and cold spots. It could just be a bust, but they seemed pretty convinced that there was something wrong. They also have a daughter who apparently wakes up screaming every night at the exact same time. I'm not sure what's going on- it could be a poltergeist," Kakashi explained, allowing the two Uchihas to thumb through the portfolios they each had, reading over the information given to them. Sasuke frowned as he eyed the black and white photograph of the clients' daughter. Her face was slightly blurred by the camera, and it didn't seem as though her retinas were showing up properly.

"Kakashi, have you considered poltergeist possession or family curses?" Sasuke asked, squinting at the photograph more. Kakashi hummed.

"What makes you ask that?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke frowned.

"The daughter's face is blurred on the photograph, and her retinas aren't showing up properly," Sasuke commented. Itachi frowned, staring at the photograph in his own portfolio.

"Sasuke, this photo was taken over six years ago, I'm sure it's just the camera," he told his brother, who nodded in reply.

"Okay, just making sure," he sighed, before standing up from the sofa and stretching his arms over his head.

"I'm going to call in the rest of the team," he told his guardian, who nodded in reply.

"Get me a coffee whilst you're out there!" Kakashi called after Sasuke as the raven went to use the kitchen phone. His answer was a middle finger in his direction and a muffled 'piss-off!'. Kakashi chuckled and turned to Itachi, who was frowning at his younger brother's form through the wall.

"What's wrong, Itachi?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. The raven turned to the silver-haired man, still sporting his frown upon his facial features.

"What makes you think there's anything wrong?" Itachi defended, not wanting his guardian clued in on how uncomfortable he was in the current situation- the current situation being 'my brother just ran into a murdered woman's child and I think he may have a crush on him' scenario. Kakashi smiled gently and sat down next to Itachi, patting his knee.

"I know that look Itachi, what's wrong?" Kakashi pressed as he heard Sasuke talking with some other people on the kitchen phone. Itachi rubbed his hands over his face and sighed before explaining the issue to Kakashi. The man just laughed at the end of it and squeezed Itachi's lower thigh, making him spasm slightly at the shocking and ticklish sensation.

"Itachi, he's just being contemplative- I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," he reassured the younger man. Itachi sighed once more and glanced to the kitchen where Sasuke was now making his fourth call- the call to Sabaku Gaara- and telling him that they had a job, and that no, he could not bring Temari, no matter how badly she wanted to see Shikamaru. Itachi smiled slightly.

"You're right. There's no need to be worried," he assured himself as the silver-haired man stood up, going to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Would you like another one?" he asked Itachi. Itachi nodded absent-mindedly, knowing that he'd need the caffeine for the night ahead- especially if he was dealing with a poltergeist. He watched as Sasuke flopped himself down on the sofa and placed his feet on his legs, toes curling up and clicking slightly, before being released beneath the black socks. Itachi frowned at the move, but let his little brother be for the moment.

"How long d'ya think this job is going to go on for?" Sasuke asked, picking at the lint that was hanging off his sock. His older brother's frown deepened at the action, noting the way Sasuke seemed to be carefree at that moment, even dropping his slightly posh accent to his voice. This only really happened- Itachi had come to notice- when he was relaxed or insanely happy. Knowing Sasuke the way he did, Itachi was at a loss of which he preferred. A happy Sasuke was rare, but also dangerous because he had a tendency to snap at everyone who threatened to ruin his mood. A relaxed Sasuke was almost as rare as a happy Sasuke; the dangerous part being that if you disturbed him, you'd be picking yourself up off the floor with two poles instead of legs- he was grumpy when interrupted. Itachi shrugged at the question.

"Possibly all night. Why do you ask?" the elder brother quizzed, strengthening his posh accent to remind his brother of what their Family name meant. Sasuke sighed and looked at his brother with a forlorn expression.

"I needed to return the notebook to its respectful owner," Sasuke told Itachi, thumbing at the orange notebook that was still in his grasp. Elder onyx eyes roamed over the cover.

"Did you put that down at all whilst on the phone?" he asked, raising a perfect eyebrow. Sasuke shrugged.

"What's it to ya?" he asked. Itachi furrowed his eyebrows when the posh accent started to slip from his brother's grasp once more and fall into an undignified heap on the floor.

"Why are you so happy?" he contemplated, looking his brother in the eyes. Sasuke frowned in return, not realising his accent had been slipping and that he'd been acting in a childish manner.

"You know, I actually have no idea," he told his older brother truthfully. For a moment, in joint synchronisation, they hummed in contemplation. A few moments after, the action caught up with their confused minds and they turned to one another.

"You're creepy," Sasuke deducted, placing his hands on his own thighs and pushing himself up from the sofa. Itachi snorted in return.

"And you're gay," he retorted with a light humour dancing in his eyes. Sasuke turned to him sharply.

"Ha, ha. You should get up on stage," Sasuke told him darkly, earning another amused chuckle from the elder brother.

"Itachi, stop teasing Sasuke," Kakashi scolded, precariously carrying two mugs of hot coffee through the living room door. Itachi almost pouted but refrained from doing so as he went to collect his own cup of coffee from his guardian.

"When are the others going to be arriving?" Kakashi asked Sasuke, who was still glaring at his older brother for his comment earlier.

"I told them to be here within an hour and a half," he told Kakashi, turning to look out of the living room window and onto the street. Kakashi hummed in contemplation at that fact, noticing that Sasuke was still slightly distracted.

"Is there something bothering you, Sasuke?" he asked his ward, careful about how the scenario would end up if he didn't tread cautiously. Sasuke occasionally suffered from mood swings, and when he was in a bad mood, the aura in the room would be so low, even ants would be looking down on it. Sasuke frowned and turned to Kakashi and Itachi.

"Why are you two asking me so many questions? I'm fine!" he snapped at them both. Itachi cleared his throat and stood up, placing his coffee mug on the coffee table.

"We're just concerned about you, Otouto. Ever since you came back today, you've been distracted. Maybe you'd like to stay behind tonight whilst the rest of us go to investigate?" Itachi offered, hoping that Sasuke would take the olive branch, sit, and mull things over. His hopes were dashed with a snort and a folding of arms across a chest.

"No. I'll come to the investigation tonight." He told them sternly, making the older two sigh.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have to return this notebook. No doubt the Dobe has homework to do!" he snapped.  
"I'll be back in an hour!" he called, as he slammed the front door shut, missing the forlorn looks both older men were sporting.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
II**

* * *

A vibration on his pillow made Naruto start, and he glanced to his mobile phone to see that he'd received a text. Curious, he flipped his phone open and frowned deeply at the sender of the text.

Megumi Sai.

Naruto had dated him about two years ago, but had broken things off when they had gone to different colleges. Sai still sent him texts on occasion though, asking for him back. It wasn't as if Naruto hated the other, he just didn't like replying to the suggestive texts. Among the suggestive ones, there were also threats- most of which involved Sai getting his older brother to make sure he never set foot in any sort of business- Shin was very powerful man. Then there were the other threatening messages that Naruto didn't like at all. They were abusive and downright wrong, some were death threats, and others where he was being called foul names. He'd tried blocking Sai's number, but that just served to increase the death threats and foul names. It was almost as if Sai knew that he was blocking his number- or at least trying to. Despite the abusive content it would most probably contain, Naruto opened the message anyway.

_Run away, crybaby. Go to your dead mamma._

Naruto swallowed thickly and deleted the text before chucking his mobile onto the bedside table that held an orange lamp with his mother's red scarf draped over the top, offering a soft glow to the room as the blond tried to make sense of the A-Level Chemistry in his textbook. He yawned slightly and checked his bedside alarm clock. It was only eight-seventeen, but he was tired. Deciding he'd studied enough for one evening, he laid his head on his pillow, intending to have a small nap, before Iruka called him down for dinner. Naruto groaned, sitting up and making his way down the stairs. As he made his way through the house, he felt a heavy presence. It wasn't anywhere in particular, it was just…_there_. It was almost as if the house was groaning under an invisible weight that was then pressing down on its residents. Naruto shrugged and made his way to his dining room table to be greeted with the sight of take-away pizza. A grin stretched the scars on his cheeks and he cackled, making his way onto one of the chairs.

"You're awesome, Iruka!" Naruto told his adoptive father as he grabbed a slice of the meat-feast pizza. Iruka chuckled, grabbing a slice of the vegetarian option.

"Why thank you, I do have my moments," he told Naruto, who just increased his grin. Just as he was about to put the slice of pizza in his mouth, the doorbell rang, making the blond stop and frown.

"I wonder if it's Kiba," he muttered. Iruka looked to him with a confused expression.

"Did you invite him?" Iruka asked. Naruto shook his head, blond tresses swaying.

"He might be here for his notebook- I said I'd write his report for him," Naruto told Iruka, who frowned in return.

"Naruto, the boy's never going to learn if you do it for him!" he scolded, earning a sheepish grin in return.

"But he had a date! I couldn't let a brother suffer!" he implored, earning an exasperated sigh from the adult.

"Go and answer the door then," he told Naruto, who nodded, taking his plate of pizza with him, knowing that Kiba's sharp senses would pick it up anyway and he'd ask for some after he did. He opened his door, about to offer the person some pizza, when he realised that this person, was definitely _not_ Kiba. It was the man he'd run into that afternoon. His eyes widened to epic proportions and he had to fight down the blush that was valiantly trying to overtake his face.

"A-ah, good evening Mr… um," Naruto started, not knowing the man's name. The raven smirked at the flustered blond, eyeing the pizza in one hand and the casual, crumpled clothes that Naruto had intended to nap in.

"Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke told Naruto, who nodded placing the pizza down on the radiator near the front door.

"Good evening Uchiha-san. Is there something you need?" Naruto asked, nervously glancing at the man who stood on his porch, looking extremely handsome. Sasuke hummed, noting the blond's inner-turmoil with a suppressed glee and decided that a little teasing couldn't hurt. He hummed, dragging a hand through his inky black locks, making the blue eyes flicker up.

"Well, when you ran into me earlier today, you dropped this," Sasuke told the mesmerised blond, holding out an orange notebook. Cerulean eyes sparked in recognition at the familiar orange cover, and he seemed to be greatly relieved.

"A-ah! Thank you so much! I'm sorry I ran into you, by the way," Naruto mumbled in apology, rubbing the back of his head. A tan hand reached out to grab the notebook, but as it was passed between them, Sasuke made sure to brush his fingers along the tan ones, noting the way the hands started to shake at the touch. He concealed a smirk as he raised his line of vision from their fingers to the blue irises that seemed a bit panicked. Naruto swallowed at the action.

"T-thanks," Naruto almost squeaked. Sasuke was just about to respond with a bit of teasing when he felt it. The immense heavy aura in the house, and then there was a presence on the stairs. Onyx eyes scanned the area lightly, taking everything in. Naruto caught onto the distraction and frowned.

"Uchiha-san, is everything okay?" he asked Sasuke, who just started and looked back to the blond with a small amount of confusion in his eyes.

"Naruto, how long have you lived here for?" Sasuke asked, shocking the blond with the sudden question. He stuttered a bit before answering.

"U-uh, um, a-about nine years. Why?" he asked, wondering why on earth the raven would ask such a question.

"Has anything…_strange_… ever happened?" he pressed, still scanning the hall for something invisible. Naruto frowned.

"What do you mean by strange?" he asked cautiously, pulling the notebook from pale, slender fingers and folding his arms across his chest. He was starting to dislike the direction of conversation, and if Sasuke wasn't going to give up, he was going to have to get rid of him. No matter how aesthetically pleasing the raven was, if he was about to suggest something, he'd force him from his doorstep. After all, his pizza was getting cold.

"Cold spots, scratching in the walls. Maybe sometimes things disappearing?" Sasuke asked. Naruto frowned and placed his notebook on the radiator with the pizza.

"I think you should be going now, Uchiha-san," Naruto told him sternly. Onyx eyes widened at the tone the blond was using. It was cold and unforgiving- and when he said it in that voice, something stirred behind him.

"Naruto, I think you need to-" any protest Sasuke was about to make was cut off by a rough shove from Naruto.

"I said get _out_! Teme!" he yelled, shoving the raven even harder, making him stumble a bit. Footsteps were heard making their way down the hall and no sooner than five seconds later, Iruka was by the front door, restraining an angry Naruto. He glanced up to see a shocked Sasuke.

"I'm so sorry Sasuke-kun!" he apologised, shocking the blond.

"You know this guy?_!_" Naruto yelled, still in an angry shock. Iruka nodded, and so did Sasuke.

"He's my best friend's adoptive son," Iruka explained, still holding Naruto back, shoving him slightly to the side. Sasuke just widened his eyes as he glanced at Naruto, who was practically fuming.

"I don't care! Get out!" Naruto spat, still struggling against the impossibly strong hold Iruka had on him. Iruka scowled at the blond before turning to Sasuke.

"I really am sorry, Sasuke-kun, but could you please leave for the time being. Naruto hasn't been in the best of spirits as of late," Iruka told the raven, who nodded in shock.

"Of course, Iruka-san. We've recently been assigned a job so I need to be getting back anyway," he replied, making Iruka nod in reply.

"Thanks for dropping the notebook round," Iruka thanked, and Sasuke nodded, turning on his heel as the door closed behind him. He blinked twice, and as he walked down the garden path, he looked up to the bedroom window, which was so obviously the blond's- what with the amount of orange- only to almost go into cardiac arrest at the sight. Grinning down at him was a redhead, his face distorted, before he vanished, leaving Sasuke to wonder if he'd imagined the whole thing. He shuddered, glancing back to the house and deciding that he'd investigate it no matter what.

Something was definitely going on there.

Inside the house, Naruto was fuming and pacing.

"How dare that bastard!" he fumed, earning a shocked look form Iruka.

"Naruto! What exactly did he do to you?" Iruka asked, aghast at the blond's speech and body language. The blond lashed around, about to yell at his adoptive father, when he saw the small fear underlying the usual kind, brown eyes. He sighed and collapsed onto the chair that he had vacated before answering the door. The pizza had long-since been devoured, so there was no chance of it getting cold during the conversation.

"I-I dunno. He didn't do _anything_... but... I dunno," he sighed, running a hand down his face and facing towards the back garden, watching as the sky became darker with each passing moment through the French doors. A cat jumped up onto the garden fence, and Naruto sighed at this, but jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Did he upset you?" Iruka asked, sitting opposite the blond, moving the hand from the shoulder to the knee. Naruto moved his line of sight to the brunet in front of him, before looking down to the floor.

"N-no, not really. I just felt so... _angry_ when he started to question me! I don't know why!" he almost snapped, sounding more upset than angry at that current moment. Iruka frowned.

"What did he ask you?" Iruka quizzed, wanting to know what had set the blond off into such a frenzy. Naruto thought about it, and then hesitated before replying.

"W-well, he asked me how long I'd lived here for," Naruto told Iruka, noting the confusion in the other man's eyes.

"That wasn't what got to me- it was what he asked afterwards," Naruto mumbled, once more looking out of the window where dark rivulets of water had started to race their way down the sheet of glass separating them from the elements. From the light of the dining room, he could see everything reflected in the glass, almost as if it were a wall mirror. It was only then that he realised how terrible he looked. There were heavy bags under his eyes; his skin was paler than normal. Then there were the dishevelled clothes and he looked a bit thinner than the last time he'd looked in the mirror. He then glanced over his shoulder and jerked violently when he could've seen another pair of dark eyes. Blinking, he checked the place again, noticing that there was nothing there. A sigh of relief escaped his throat and he glanced back to Iruka, who was looking at him expectantly, worry etched into the brown irises. Naruto swallowed at that- he was causing his father to worry unnecessarily, so he decided to lie and smile; it was what he was best at.

"I'm just really tired recently, and what with my exams this year, I'm a little stressed out. I overreacted; I'm sorry," he apologised, placing a tan hand over the one that was covering his knee. Iruka opened his mouth to say more, but Naruto cut him off.

"I need to continue with my report. Thanks for the pizza, Iruka," Naruto thanked, pushing himself out of his chair and making his way up the stairs.

'_I'm just stressed. I didn't see anything- ghosts don't even exist,_' he told himself as he ascended the stairs to his room. As he reached it, he shivered at the coldness before switching on his light and moving to close the window. As he reached up, movement caught his eye in the street below. It was a black cat, staring intensely at him before hissing. Naruto frowned.

"Stupid cat," he muttered to himself, slamming the window shut and making his way to his desk to copy out two reports.

Kiba so owed him, he decided, as the rain started to splatter the windows heavier, creating a drum beat on the sheet of glass. As the minutes dripped by, Naruto found himself unable to concentrate so much on what he was doing. He was just so tired, not having had a restful sleep the night before due to the nightmares. He closed his eyes, but snapped them open when he saw the flashes of memory he was trying so hard to forget. Yes, it had been almost ten years since the incident, but it didn't mean he wasn't still scared by it. He'd only been eight at the time, after all. He grimaced, looking back to the words on the page that made no sense. A heavy sigh drew from his lips as he dragged his laptop close to him, intent on researching his curricular material. Rubbing his eyes, he typed in his password, watching with no enthusiasm as the desktop loaded. An image assaulted his eyes, and he swallowed at what it was. Somehow, his desktop background had changed. As the blond- extremely confused- went to change it back to what it was originally (him and Iruka on a holiday in Florida), he noticed something. The picture was of his room. However, what made the blond so worried was that it was a picture of him sleeping. Next to his sleeping figure was a shadow, leaning over him in an almost protective manner. The blond blinked, leaning closer and squinting, just to check that it wasn't an effect of the camera. Then another thought hit him.

Who had taken the picture?

It surely wouldn't be Iruka, as he always had to get up early- why would he stay up late, taking pictures of Naruto, no less? Just as soon as it had appeared, the desktop background vanished, replaced with his original background. The blond blinked once more in surprise and shrugged it off as a computer glitch. Kiba must've taken the photo as a prank the last time he'd stayed over and put it on his computer. He opened up his internet browser before checking his e-mails. There were a few, most of them being from Facebook or the likes. He smirked at a few statuses, commenting on a few and liking a few pictures before logging off and going online to research for his coursework. He was so engrossed in his research that he didn't notice the cupboard door slowly opening behind him. The blond just kept on diligently working, writing both his and Kiba's reports. It was only when his mobile vibrated that he was brought out of his daze. Steeling himself from the jump, he flipped open his mobile to see that the text was from an unknown number. He frowned, opening it up anyway. Quite simply, the text said the following:

_You look delicious when you sleep._

Naruto sighed, assuming that after ignoring his texts, Sai had decided to get a new number. It wouldn't be beyond him, Naruto noted. Whilst the two had been dating, he would go to any lengths to make sure Naruto would keep in contact with him. At one point, he had refused to let Naruto go to school for a week or see any of his friends. As Naruto was convinced that Sai was the only one for him at the point, he didn't refuse the older boy, thinking that it was for the best. It was only when he'd walked in on the other, with another person, no less, that he'd started to see Sai for who he really was. After a few more arguments and the fact that they were parting for different colleges- or in Naruto's case, Sixth Form- the blond decided to break it off, leaving a furious Sai in his wake. Naruto had no qualms about still being friends, but it was somewhat hard when Sai insisted on sending him suggestive and threatening texts. A few moments after the text had been received, his phone flashed up again, this time playing a tune. Noting it as his ringtone, the blond flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, tilting his head so that the phone was wedged tightly between his shoulder and ear and so that he could still type in his findings and search for more reference material. As soon as he had asked the question though, the line went dead. Frowning, Naruto took the phone away from his ear to check the caller ID. It came up as a Withheld Number, which Naruto found quite odd, as he had set his phone to ignore any incoming calls with a withheld caller ID. Shrugging, he turned the device off before facing his laptop and noting down the time. He was more than a little shocked when he saw that it was nearing midnight. Groaning, as he had to be up early the next day, he saved his research onto his memory stick and shut down his computer. Before he climbed into bed, he turned his lamp on, the room being bathed in a crimson glow. After he had turned the light off, he sat at the edge of his bed, eyeing the pills on his bedside table. Usually, he wouldn't take them- but seeing as he wanted to be fully rested for the next day, he reached out to grab them, wincing slightly when his bruised wrists twanged in pain. He grimaced, popping a few pills into his mouth and lying down onto the bed. In his drowsy state, he thought he could hear a woman calling out to him, but he dismissed it as his imagination. After all, the woman who it belonged to had died almost ten years ago.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
III**

* * *

Sasuke sighed as they pulled up to the quite large house of the family they were investigating. The white van was cramped, what with it carrying seven passengers, as well as all the necessary equipment for that evening. A pinkette was arguing with a blonde, both of them already name-calling and on the verge of breaking out the nails.

"Quit stealing my space you fat pig!" the pinkette yelled, shoving her foot into the side of the blonde. Said blonde just growled in return, shoving her foot into the side of the pinkette.

"Well maybe if your head wasn't so goddamn big, we'd be able to fit!" she snapped, earning a growl from the girl. Crushed up against the window was a large boy with brown hair, trying to eat a bag of barbeque flavoured crisps. It wasn't working too well, what with the girls jostling him, making them more into crumbs than crisps. He narrowed his eyes.

"Will you two ever quit?" he snapped at them, earning an amused chuckle in return. A brunet with his hair pulled into a ponytail was leaning against the sliding door, arms folded across his chest, eyes closed.

"Hn, that's like asking you to stop eating, Chouji. Ino and Sakura will always fight. As long as the sexual tension is there, the fighting will remain," he stated sagely, before his words sunk in to the three others. The large boy blushed at the image, whilst the two girls- Sakura and Ino- screeched in protest, trying with joint effort to strangle the brunet.

"Please try not to maim him; Temari will have your heads if you harm her precious Shika-chan," a redhead with teal eyes drawled as he continued to stare out of the window, unperturbed by the screeching. Both girls turned to him at this comment, a little bit of fear flashing in their eyes. One thing they had learned over the years was that Temari was not to be messed with, what with being Gaara's protective big sister and practically killing anything that tried to harm that precious to her with just a look. They shared identical looks of disappointment at not being able to flay the brunet alive and sighed, deciding to turn their focus onto someone else in the van- Uchiha Sasuke. Said raven was sitting against the back of the driver's seat, eyes closed, and headphones in. Both girls gushed at how handsome and cool the Uchiha looked before they were cut off by a derisive snort.

"You girls need to get your priorities straight," a man with blue hair told them. Both girls looked to him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" they asked simultaneously, then turning to glare at each other for asking the same question in the same tone at the same time. The man grinned, showing rows of slightly sharp teeth.

"You should know by now that baby Uchiha's gay!" he told them, watching in amusement as their faces morphed into a shocked expression.

"No way! That can't be true!" the pinkette squeaked. From the side, Shikamaru chuckled.

"Au contraire, dear Sakura. Did you ever wonder why he's never had a girlfriend?" he asked the pinkette, who spluttered at the response. The blonde- Ino- decided that she didn't want to believe her childhood friend, and leant over to Sasuke to rip his headphones out. A look of pure annoyance was sent her way at the action.

"What did you do that for?" he hissed at her, noting her curious expression and look of determination. A perfectly plucked eyebrow was raised at this expression.

"Did you need something?" he asked her with a drawl. Deciding that it would be best for all of them, Ino dived in with the question.

"Shika says that you're gay. Truth or rumour?" she demanded. From the front seat, Sasuke heard his older brother snort. Sasuke sighed, deciding that at least it would get the two women off his back if he came out publicly.

"Truth," he replied simply, taking his headphones back and placing them in once again, drowning himself in the rhythm of his music. Ino and Sakura's shocked faces were the subject of a joke for the next few moments, before the brakes were sharply applied, making everybody jostle and complain.

"Jeez Kakashi, are you trying to kill us?" Itachi mumbled to the driver, who just eye-grinned. He turned to the elder Uchiha, eye-smile still in place.

"And why would I want to deal with _your_ pissy spirit?" the grey-haired man asked. Itachi just mumbled in reply before turning around in his seat.

"We're here. We'll go to meet the family before we unload the equipment," he stated, earning nods and noises of agreement from the team in the back of the van. The side door was opened by the blue-haired man, making Shikamaru tumble out, splashing curses as well as a puddle he'd landed in.

"Jesus, Kisame. I hate you!" Shikamaru complained, pulling himself out of the puddle with much effort. The man- Kisame- just grinned.

"N'aww, you love me really," he teased, earning a scowl from the brunet. The others climbed out, each stretching after being cramped in the back of the van for quite a while. Kakashi stepped out, frowning at the pouring sky, looking to Itachi as if to clarify that it was, indeed, raining. Itachi just rolled his eyes before slamming the side door shut, making the two girls jump at the unexpected noise.

"Well, let's not loiter in their drive for the rest of the evening," Itachi stated monotonously as he turned towards the front door, soon being followed by everyone else. As soon as they reached the front door, they could feel it; the intense aura of something evil inhabiting the house. Ino and Sakura glanced at one another nervously, only communicating with their eyes at how unsettled they were by the whole thing. Kakashi sighed and knocked on the door, waiting patiently for it to be answered. When it was, it was by a haggard looking brunette woman with tired eyes.

"Ah, you must be the experts!" she stated, hope filling her eyes. Kakashi eye-smiled once more and extended his hand.

"Hatake Kakashi-we spoke on the phone?" he told the woman, who nodded eagerly.

"Yes, yes! I'm Kieta Haruhi," she told the man with enthusiasm, before stepping back, waving her arm in front of her.

"Please, please; come in!" she told them, her enthusiasm not dropping one bit. Briefly, Kakashi had to wonder how bad the problem must've been for the woman to be so accepting so quickly. She hadn't asked for any ID, she was just insanely relieved. He had little time to dwell on that thought, however, as he was quickly being pulled into the living room and offered a cup of tea- as well as the rest of the crew- by the woman's teenage daughter. Kakashi accepted the offer gratefully before turning to the woman who had invited them over. He smiled at her and leant forward whilst the others looked around at their surroundings, taking in the detail.

"So, Kieta-san, can you tell us what's been happening?" he asked, getting straight to the point. Itachi carefully nudged him- a small reminder that sometimes he could be too blunt. A small nod acknowledged the nudge, but the woman continued with telling him her problems anyway.

Sasuke was distracted, however. All he could think of was the house where the blond was residing- it hadn't seemed pleasant at all. Not as in, the sense that it was an unhealthy home; but the aura around the blond and house itself was crushing, almost as if it wanted to suck the happiness out of everything that lived there.

"What do you think about this, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, snapping the raven out of his musings, making his eyes widen as he realised he had no idea what the woman was saying. Haruhi was staring at him expectantly, a small smile on her face. Panicking, and mentally sorting through what he had already read on the portfolio, he went for the most logical explanation.

"It sounds like a poltergeist," he blagged, earning a relieved sag from the grey-haired man that had thought that they would certainly be doomed if the woman realised Sasuke hadn't been listening. The woman's eyes widened at the revelation.

"A- a poltergeist? What's that?" she asked, dumbfounded. Sasuke blanched. This woman had contacted a paranormal investigation team, and she didn't know what a poltergeist was? The raven resisted the urge to smash his face into the wall and just sat quietly on the sofa, letting someone else explain what a 'poltergeist' was. Sakura was the one who turned up with an explanation.

"Poltergeist literally translates from German, meaning 'noisy ghost'. There are many beliefs for their origins. Most people believe that they used to be violent, evil people in life, then after death turned into other spirits. Other people have the theory that a poltergeist is born from bad spiritual energy." Sakura stated to the woman, who nodded, eyes still wide.

"Seeing that this is a new housing estate, it has quite a low chance of being a malevolent spirit. So, in the case of it being bad spiritual energy, there is usually a host for it and this person-"

"Wait- so someone is knowingly putting this thing _in here_?" Haruhi squeaked, eyeing around herself, looking stripped of all privacy. Kakashi placed a hand on the woman's knee to calm her down.

"No," he stated, about to go into an explanation before he was interrupted by Gaara.

"The host emits this 'bad energy' unknowingly," the redhead muttered, uncrossing his arms from where they were folded across his chest. The woman tilted her head in a confused manner, not too sure on how to take this news.

"The 'bad energy' -so to say- is usually linked to some sort of childhood trauma being expressed in the teenage years. If you believe in the 'host' theory, poltergeists usually appear around teenage girls in the early stages of puberty," he told her evenly. This made the woman stop.

"You mean my daughter might-" she cut off, looking to the people around her with desperation, hoping for them to deny it. As nobody did, she decided to try and defend her daughter for herself.

"No, no, you've got it all wrong! Kara couldn't do such a thing! She's only fourteen!" Haruhi stressed. Itachi sighed.

"The host doesn't do it by choice, Keita-san, it's more of the fact she's had a trauma in her childhood with no way to vent. Do you know of any events that may have upset her during that stage of her life?" the older raven asked with a compassionate voice. Haruhi swallowed and looked from side to side, eyeing the rest of the members, and Itachi caught on. He cleared his throat, addressing the crew.

"Sakura, Ino: I want you two to keep Kara company for the evening," he told them, making them nod in understanding as they stood up to grab their things from the van.

"Chouji, Shikamaru: I want you to set up the cameras in the rooms- we need to catch evidence on camera of what's going on," Kakashi ordered, catching onto the drift also.

"Sasuke and Gaara, you can set up the audio equipment," Kisame told the other two, who nodded silently at the elders. Once it was only the elders who were remaining, Haruhi sat forward, hands clasped on her skirt-clad lap.

"Th-there was an issue when she was younger- it involved her father," she started shakily, earning the curiosity of all three men around her.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked gently, offering the woman some of his tea as comfort. She took the mug and sipped it gratefully.

"H-her father was quite a famous man, and more than often was surrounded by the paparazzi. One night, when I was at work, he took Kara out with him on a small drive- the news crews followed as they had never seen Kara or I before- my husband preferred to keep his personal life quiet," she added with a small smile. Kakashi nodded solemnly and could quite easily see where the story was going.

"The photographers were taking pictures of them whilst in the car, the flashes showing up in the rear-view mirror distracting him as they made their way down the country road," at that point Haruhi broke off, a small sob emitting from her, and Kisame passed the woman his personalised shark-hankie.

"The flashes were too much, and he swerved on some black ice, causing him to spin out of control and fall off the road. The car spun around, the windscreen smashing, the sides crushed in, airbags deployed. It was a miracle that Kara even survived," she sobbed, taking a deep breath.

"What did the news crews do?" Itachi asked, feeling dread settle in his stomach. A dark look overtook the eyes of Haruhi as she remembered what they had done.

"They did nothing," she spat, venom dripping in her voice. Kisame flinched at the tone but listened as the woman continued.

"Kara was stuck in a burning car with her dead father whilst they did nothing but take photographs. It took her ten minutes to crawl out of there, and only then did somebody call the emergency services. Ever since then, she's never set foot near a camera. That's why the photograph I gave you was so old," she hissed, obviously still upset about the incident but saddened at the fact that she couldn't take photographs of her daughter growing up without said daughter having a nervous breakdown. Haruhi's eyes widened when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked to the side to see Kakashi with a small, gentle smile on his face, visible eye filled with warmth.

"Don't worry, Keita-san, we'll do anything we can to help," he reassured, earning a shaky smile from the woman before him, before she launched forward, bringing the man into a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squeaked tearfully, earning an awkward pat on the back from the grey-haired man. Kisame grinned at Kakashi, whilst Itachi internally sighed.

It was going to be a long night…

* * *

**Possessed**

**Chapter One: End**

* * *

**AWWWWW YEEEEEE~AAAAAH! Who else is excited?**_**!**_

**Or is it just me :/ **

**Who cares? I'm PUMPED! The next chapter should be out next Friday~ Oooh Friday updates! X3 **

**Once again, I really am sorry that it was late TT^TT**

**~Until next time! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Possessed**

**xCastielsGirlx**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Huzzah! Le next chapter! I'd like to thank you guys for all the support you've given me so far XD And I hope I continue to receive such good support ^_^ So, enough delaying, ON WITH THE NEXT CHAPTAH! (Sorry it's late)

**Warnings:** Once more: hints of SasuNaru, violence, supernatural horror, swearing and Kiba- lots and lots of Kiba XD

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any 'Naruto' characters- they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Any 'legends' or 'science' that I speak of, are most likely a huge pile of BS, so please do not believe them at your own risk.

* * *

**This is a work of Fiction. Any names, places or an event linking to the real world is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**2.**

"_Sweetheart, you need to get up- or you'll be late for school," a gentle voice whispered. There was a moan from underneath the bundle of blankets, and a boy with bright blue eyes emerged, blond hair rumpled from tossing and turning at night._

"_Mummy? Is that you?" he asked fearfully. The woman who had been sat on the edge of the bed widened her eyes at the tone._

"_Naru-chan, did you have a nightmare?" she asked, pulling her baby boy closer. The blond nodded, hugging onto the woman whose long, red hair cascaded down her back._

"_Don't worry about it, sweetheart- it was just a dream," she whispered, pressing a kiss to her son's head, who just snuggled deeper._

"_It just seemed so real," the blond whispered, earning a chuckle in return. Then there was the feeling of something wet and sticky falling over his body, followed by a loud cracking._

"_That's because it was real," the woman replied, making the blond freeze and pull back to see his mother covered in blood, her face mangled and neck broken. His blue eyes widened in shock, tears forming as he drank in the image he was never going to forget. As if he'd been burnt, he shoved the woman away, before a scream emitted from his mouth, his lungs burning._

"_ARRGG-"_

"RRGH!"

"Naruto! Naruto wake up!"

Caught up in his sheets, still panicked, Naruto's eyes flew open, before he fell to the floor with a thud, still panting, yelling, and twisting in his sheets.

"No! Mum!" he screamed, not noticing he was now awake with a very worried Iruka trying to calm him down. All he could feel were hands grabbing him and restricting his movement, so he decided to thrash, trying to get away.

"Get off of me! Mum!" the blond cried, still trying to break free. It was at that moment that the hands were removed, and the brunet allowed the blond to struggle, until eventually, he realised he was awake, and all that had happened was just a dream. It was then that Naruto realised that his cheeks were soaked and his mouth very sore. He then turned to Iruka, who was looking pale and scared.

"Are you okay?" his guardian asked him, and Naruto swallowed thickly and nodded. Iruka then snorted and moved forward to pull the blond in for a hug.

"Liar," he whispered, making the blond tense at the action that had been a subject in his nightmare not moments before.

"What time is it?" the blond asked wearily, eyes not able to focus on the clock properly due to the tears that were still lingering on his lashes.

"It's seven in the morning- just on time, eh?" Iruka chuckled, as the blond's alarm clock started to go off in the background. Naruto swallowed and just pulled his adoptive father closer, not wanting to relive the nightmare that was escaping his mind. A hand ruffled through his hair and he broke away, blinking back the lingering tears, to see Iruka looking at him contemplatively.

"Naruto, is there anything you'd like to tell me at all?" Iruka asked, curious as to why the nightmares were only just starting to pop up again. Naruto shook his head.

"Like what?" he asked the adult, confused. Iruka bit his lower lip, not sure on how to phrase the question he was about to ask.

"H-has anything been distressing you lately? Texts? People at your school? Just general work issues?" he added on the last one to make the question seem genuine. Naruto frowned, thinking back to the texts that Sai had been sending over the last few days, but decided not to worry his guardian.

"No, why do you ask?" he blagged, not knowing that Iruka had seen the texts he had been receiving. The brunet, however, chose to let it go, just a little hurt that his son didn't think that he could trust him enough to tell him about the harsh messages from the blond's ex-boyfriend. Iruka shook his head and placed a small smile on his features before replying to the blond.

"I was just wondering- so, are you going to get ready for college then?" he asked, earning a nod from Naruto in reply.

"Yeah- I'm sorry," he muttered, earning a light smack to the back of his head, looking up to see Iruka with a small smile on his face.

"You don't have to be sorry, Naruto. As long as you're okay now," he told his son, who smiled in return, wiping at his cheeks. As he made his way down the stairs, Iruka couldn't help but worry and fret over Naruto's recent behaviour. He had become sketchy, jittery and distracted- almost as though he were expecting someone to jump him at any given moment. Then there was the time he had accidentally read one of the messages Naruto had received from Sai, but he deleted it before the blond could even look at it. Iruka shuddered just thinking about the death threat. He would've gone to the police, had Naruto not turned up at the exact moment and taken the phone, seeming panicky. The brunet entered the kitchen, pulling out two mugs to make himself and Naruto a morning coffee- hopefully to put the boy in a chirpier mood. Just as he reached for one of the mugs however, a loud crash resonated from behind him, and he turned to see that a picture that had been hung on the wall on the floor, its glass frame shattered. Iruka sighed and walked over to it, shivering as the air temperature dropped a bit, but he shook it off. His hands reached down to grab the picture, and he hissed slightly when his finger caught some of the broken shards, withdrawing blood. The photo that had fallen depicted Naruto and he on a vacation somewhere warm with a few locals. As well as the missing chunks of glass, a huge crack had appeared over Naruto's face, making it seem slightly distorted. Sighing, Iruka slipped the picture out of the frame, before dumping said frame in the bin and going to fetch the hoover from under the stairs. Naruto trundled down them not moments later to see Iruka pulling it out, and he frowned.

"What was that crash?" he asked, wiping his eyes with one hand, the other gripping his phone tightly. Iruka looked up with a small smile.

"One of the photos fell off the wall- the hook must've broken. I'll need to go buy a new frame at some point during the day," he told Naruto, who's frown still stayed on his face.

"Would you like me to pick one up on the way back from College?" he asked, earning a shake of the head in reply.

"No thanks- I've got to go to the shop anyways. All the salt seems to have gone missing," Iruka relayed, earning a nod from Naruto, who made his way down the rest of the stairs and pulled out the hoover that his foster-father had been struggling with. Iruka smiled and took the device from tanned hands gently.

"Thanks. It's toast for breakfast, by the way. The milk went off," he informed the blond, who sighed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry 'bout that," he mumbled, earning an affectionate chuckle in return.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again, okay?" Iruka sternly commanded, earning a stiff nod and mock salute from the teen before him before he went to go fetch his breakfast. As he entered the kitchen, Naruto frowned. It wasn't as if he'd been upset by the barely-telling-off he'd received, but the fact that all the salt had gone missing was a curious case indeed. Shrugging to himself, Naruto decided to ignore it for the moment and just placed two slices of bread into the toaster. Whilst waiting for the toast to cook, he leant against the side, tapping his phone against his thigh. He twitched slightly as it vibrated, and he flipped the screen up to see that it was a text from Kiba. A small smile overtook the blond's lips as he read the text asking if he'd done his notes and started with his project. He placed the phone on the side as he pulled a butter knife from the draw and the margarine from the fridge. The toaster popped, alerting the blond to the fact that his breakfast was ready. Naruto hummed in relief, scooping a large amount of the yellow solid onto his knife and spreading it onto the toast. A small grumble sounded from his stomach as he opened his mouth, and he bit down, enjoying the taste of the toast. The blond chomped on his breakfast happily, a smile on his face, until his watch beeped, and he glanced to it, almost choking on his food when he saw it was time for him to leave. Hurriedly, he swallowed his toast- eyes watering afterwards- and called to his guardian, telling him that he was leaving.

"Have a good day!" Iruka called from upstairs, earning a 'I will!' from the blond as he wrestled his way through the front door, grabbing his jacket at the same time, and shoving his feet in his shoes. The blond shivered as he exited the house, but took his music player from his jacket pocket and shoved the earphones in, sighing slightly as the beats to his favourite song rang throughout his ears. The sky was looking quite dark, and that made the blond frown, recalling that the weather reports had predicted a heatwave for the next two weeks. He shrugged slightly, knowing that weather reports weren't that accurate anyways, and continued on his journey. As he neared the college, he checked in his bag to make sure he had both copies of the report and both notebooks, sighing in relief when he did. As he entered the college, he knocked into someone, and blinked when he saw who it was. His bemused blink then turned into a scowl and he turned in the opposite direction, hopefully to be ignored.

"Hey! Naruto, wait up!" the person called, making the blond internally mourn at the fact that he hadn't been able to get away.

"What is it, Karin?" he asked the redheaded girl, turning on the spot with what looked to be a gargantuan amount of effort. The girl pouted slightly and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Is that any way to speak to your favourite cousin?" she complained, making the blond groan.

"You're my _only _cousin," he muttered, but the girl heard it nonetheless, smirking in return.

"Exactly. But anyways; I need a favour!" she begged, making the blond's eye twitch.

"What is it? It better not involve acting as your boyfriend to scare off some other boy- I mean, why not use Suigetsu for that?" he told her, making the girl blush in return and fiddle with her school tie.

"Well, not exactly… I need you to beat someone up for me!" he clarified, punching her fist into her other hand with an aggressive look on her face. The blond sighed and eyed the younger girl, rubbing a hand down his face.

"What did they do this time?" he asked. Karin blinked and rubbed the back of her head, looking upset.

"T-they were insulting me, and then they started insulting you- calling you a fag. I punched 'em, but then got put in isolation, so I need you to continue my work!" she told the blond determinedly, who just sagged his shoulders.

"I'll get them after school for you. If I mess up here, I'll get kicked out. I need this course, Karin!" he reminded the girl, who nodded in glee.

"You're awesome, Naruto-nii!" she squealed, launching herself onto her cousin and pulling him into a hug. The taller male just hugged back lightly and then pulled away.

"I need to get to class now, if you don't mind," he told Karin, who nodded in reply.

"Sure thing! Have a good day!" she called, before making her way to the room designated for pupils in isolation. Naruto just shook his head, a small smile on his face as he thought of his cousin. Although Karin wasn't directly his cousin, her mother had been best friends with his own, making them practically sisters- however, at the time of Kushina's death, she was unable to take Naruto in as she had recently just gotten into debt and couldn't afford to keep him. Naruto had understood perfectly, telling her not to worry. However, the bond between him and Karin had stayed, making the two sort-of cousins. His musings drew short, however, when he bumped into someone again, and he looked up to see who it was. His heart skipped a few beats, but he brought himself in check and continued walking, ignoring the person. He didn't even look back when they called him. It was only when his shoulder was grabbed and he was spun around that he reacted, pulling himself back.

"What are you doing here?" he asked angrily, eyeing the boy in front of him. The pale-skinned, shorthaired raven just blinked, a small smile spreading over his lips.

"I see you've grown some more balls since we last spoke," he smirked, stepping closer. The blond just stepped back, not wanting to be near him.

"Fuck off, Sai," he spat, turning around and going to stalk away. His plan was shot to shreds when his wrist was caught in a strong grip and he was pulled back against a chest.

"C'mon, Naru, don't be like that!" was the small moan that had Naruto pulling away.

"Get off of me!" he yelled angrily, struggling in Sai's grip. A chuckle sounded in his ear and a hand made its way to cup his chin and turn his head to look into the dark eyes.

"Mm, you still look so delicious," he muttered, earning a renewed struggle.

"Get off!" Naruto growled, a more threatening undertone in his voice. His pleas fell upon deaf ears, however, as Sai just moved closer. Just as Sai was about to connect their lips, a shout rang throughout the halls.

"BANZAAAAAAAAAAI!"

The next thing he knew, he was being snatched out of Sai's hold and tossed over a shoulder.

"Get the hell off him you sick fuck!" Another voice then accompanied the one who had yelled, but Naruto felt relieved at the fact he'd been pulled away. There was then the sound of a fist connecting with flesh, and swearing from Sai.

"Hn, no matter how much you try to deny it, Naruto-chan, you will come back to me," he called, making his way out of the door. Naruto shuddered slightly, and was then put down, smiling at his best friend with relief.

"You're such an awesome guard-dog, Kibbles," he sighed, patting the brunet's cheeks. Kiba just snorted and shrugged.

"What can I say- you were a damsel in need of rescuing!" he told the blond, who just punched him gently on the arm.

"Still, thanks," he told Kiba, who just shrugged once more.

"Don't forget about me," came the other voice. Naruto turned on the spot, a huge grin overtaking his face.

"Gaara!" he cried, pulling the shorter male in for a hug.

"Dude, you're freakin' awesome! How was your holiday?" he asked, placing the boy back down from where he had been swung around in a circle. Gaara just grunted in reply and folded his arms across his chest.

"Cut short. Kankuro got food poisoning and I was called in for work," he grumbled, earning a reassuring pat from the blond.

"Aw, don't worry about it man; I'm sure you can go to Australia any other time- you're freakin' rich!" he told the redhead, who just shrugged.

"Whatever you say," he replied, looking to the blond.

"Were we assigned any work whilst I was gone?" he asked, earning a nod in reply.

"Yup. I had to do Kiba's as well- do you want to borrow my notes?" he asked the redhead, who nodded in thanks.

"We couldn't finish the experiment yesterday, so you can help us with it today," Kiba added, making Naruto smirk.

"His royal Dogness knocked the solution over," Naruto drawled, earning a smack on the head in return.

"You were trying to hit me!" he replied, making the redhead raise a thin eyebrow in return.

"Well it's a good thing I'm here to supervise you, isn't it?" he asked, earning a sheepish grin in return.

"So, Kiba, how did it go with Hinata last night?"

* * *

**~Possessed~  
IV**

* * *

A beeping sounded throughout the dark house, earning a groan in reply. An onyx eye cracked open and blearily focused on the alarm clock that was rousing him from his beloved sleep. A pale hand slid out from under the covers, trying to slam down on the favoured 'Snooze' button. After many attempts, the alarm was finally shut off, and the pale hand slid back under the covers, a pleased sigh emitting from underneath them. As the raven was teetering on the edge of consciousness once more, a heavy rock song rang out, muffled- which he recognised as his mobile phone. With an almost-sob, the raven stuck his hand under his pillow and pulled out the phone, pressing the button and placing it by his ear.

"N'yello?" he murmured sleepily, earning a chuckle on the other end.

"Really, Uchiha?" the other asked, earning a mumbled 'fuck off' in return.

"What do you need, Gaara?" The Uchiha asked, not in the mood to have been woken up at one in the afternoon after pulling an all-nighter.

"I was just wondering- what do you know about Uzumaki?" Gaara asked, earning a confused hum from said Uzumaki on the other end, who was adding the hydrochloric acid once more. Gaara glared at him for being distracted.

"Naruto! Pay attention otherwise you're going to put in the wrong amount!" Gaara scolded, making Naruto start and go back to the experiment. On the other end, Sasuke hummed and snuggled deeper.

"He's a dobe," he replied with a small hum. Gaara snorted at that.

"He called you a teme. He was telling us about the "weird teme who returned my notebook and asked questions about my house"." Gaara quoted, making Sasuke sigh and rub his eyes.

"So, the point of this conversation?" Sasuke asked, glancing to the darkened windows and frowning, recalling that there should have been a heatwave this week.

"I want you to stay away from him," Gaara explained, making the raven's eyes shoot open, wide awake.

"What?_!_" he almost yelled, making the redhead pull the phone away from his ear and then replace it.

"I know more about him than you do, Sasuke, and I'm telling you that it's best if you didn't approach him, or his house," Gaara told the raven, turning away from the blond and brunet who were squabbling over something. Sasuke swallowed slightly.

"What's wrong with him?" Sasuke quizzed, rolling over in his bed, sighing as he heard the inevitable sound of raindrops pelting his window. Gaara just huffed in an annoyed voice, obviously spotting the rainfall out of the classroom windows.

"He hasn't been right since his mother's passing… and he's having a few personal problems involving a stalker ex. So, if you want to survive an Uzumaki PMS, you'll take my warnings to heart, okay?" he told the Uchiha, who just sighed in reply.

"Fine. How is he, by the way?" Sasuke wanted to know. Gaara hummed in return, eyeing the blond who was laughing cheerily with Kiba.

"He seems to be fine. Goodbye, Uchiha." Gaara told the raven, who bade farewell before hanging up. The silence of the room was heavy, only being pierced by the drumming of drops on his window. Sasuke sighed, irritated by the information he had been given. As he stared at the ceiling, he couldn't help but let his mind wander over to the blond teen. He'd been on his mind quite a lot recently, and it was annoying the Uchiha that he couldn't seem to get him out of his head. Sasuke wanted to see him again, even more after Gaara had told him to stay away. There was something about him that intrigued him, making him want to know him; to explore every inch of his being. This thought then made a light flush spike across his face, and an uncomfortable feeling set in his stomach. He was craving the blond. Was this why Gaara had made sure that he wouldn't see the blond? During the case the night before, Sasuke had told the redhead what was up, and Gaara had then admitted to knowing the blond and being friends with him, which had shocked Sasuke slightly. However, Gaara had seemed protective of the blond somewhat and didn't want to tell him much about him. Sasuke sighed once more, rubbing his hand down his face and deciding that he should get up and shower. As he stepped into the shower, he activated the radio, cringing when some cheesy pop music decided to play for him. However, as he couldn't be bothered to change the station, he tolerated it, listening as they sung about fascinations whilst he rubbed shower gel into his skin. However, the song drilled into his mind, reminding him of the blond for some reason- perhaps this was the type of music he listened to? Sasuke shook his head- thinking about the blond whilst he was in the shower was _not_ a good idea in his mind. However, his efforts were futile as he then thought of the blond in the shower with him, and he instantly turned the water cold on instinct, wincing as the chilled water hit his skin.

"Fucking hell," he hissed, continuing to wash himself with cold water to stop any unfortunate accidents. He then glared at the radio when they played the next song.

'I believe in miracles- where you from? You sexy thing?'

It was at that point that Sasuke turned the radio off, growling. But now that there wasn't a musical distraction, his thoughts wondered back to the blond being with him.

"Dammit!" he growled, closing his eyes as his mind fantasised about Naruto being in the shower with him, rubbing their bodies together. He snapped his eyes open, however, when he heard his phone go off again, a heavy rock tune filling throughout the bathroom. Hastily, the raven shut off the water and grabbed his phone, wrapping a towel around his waist as he did so.

"Hello?" he asked, not realising how breathless he sounded. A heavy chuckle sounded at the end of the phone.

"Did I interrupt your activities, little brother?" Itachi asked, making the raven groan in return and place his hand to his head.

"What did you want? Is everyone okay back at the house?" Sasuke asked, wondering how much further his brother had gotten after they had left early in the morning. Itachi hummed.

"We're just finishing up. We performed a cleansing ritual, and the girl has gone in for therapy. We should be seeing a decrease in activity soon," Itachi relayed, earning a nod from Sasuke.

"Okay. So when will you be back?" Sasuke quizzed, earning a contemplative hum in return.

"Well, in actual fact, we're not going to be back until tomorrow- will you be okay?" Itachi wandered, not at all happy with the fact that his little brother would be home alone.

"I'll be fine, Aniki- you go do what you need to do," Sasuke replied with a small smile, earning one in return from his brother.

"Okay. See you tomorrow, Otouto," was the final sentence before Itachi hung up, leaving Sasuke to smile slightly. The raven then pulled the towel from around his waist and started to dry himself and then went to place his clean clothes on his person, when the musings from earlier entered his mind and he groaned again.

"Fucking dobe," he murmured, deciding to ignore his cravings and place the clothes on himself anyways. His jeans required a little work, but he eventually managed to pull them on and do up the zipper without much of an issue. Just as he'd placed the towel in the hamper and arrived downstairs to drink some milk from the carton, his mobile phone rang out again. Aggravated that people wouldn't leave him alone, he pulled out his phone and pressed the 'receive call' button.

"What?_!_" he snapped, making the other person go silent. Sasuke pulled the phone away from his ear to check who it was that was calling, before placing the phone back to his ear.

"What is it, Gaara?" he demanded, earning a shaky chuckle in return.

"U-uh, sorry, but this is Uzumaki Naruto," a nervous voice stated, and Sasuke felt his heartbeat quicken.

"I- uh, I wanted to apologise for being such an ass last night. I mean, you brought my notebook back whilst others would've just binned it. I really should've been grateful and invited you in. I mean, Gaara told me that you live about a mile away? And well-"

Sasuke drowned the rest of the apology out, just listening to the blond's voice, feeling at ease for some reason, but still with a craving at the pit of his stomach. Eventually, Sasuke thought it prudent to cut off the blond's ramblings.

"Dobe. It's okay," he replied, earning a stunned silence.

"Wow, Gaara said you'd most probably yell at me," he replied quietly, making Sasuke blink and smirk.

"Hey, Naruto, what's your phone number?" Sasuke asked, ready with a piece of paper and a pen in hand. On the other end, Naruto blushed slightly, and chuckled nervously before giving the Uchiha his number. Sasuke smirked, before thanking the blond, and the two hung up, Sasuke feeling considerably better, both of them with small smiles on their faces. Sasuke's phone then lit up once more, and his eyebrow twitched. He looked down to see that it was a withheld number, but answered it nonetheless. However, as he answered it, the line went dead, making the raven feel confused.

"Huh," he frowned, going back to drinking the milk from the carton. After this had been completed, he made his way to his living room, dumping himself unceremoniously onto the sofa and putting his feet up, before turning on the television to see if his favourite show was on. However, as he got halfway through, the house phone rang, startling Sasuke. The raven groaned, answering it to be met with a nervous voice.

"Uh, hi. Is this the Uchiha residence?" the voice asked, and Sasuke hummed.

"Yes it is. May I ask who's calling?" Sasuke replied, pausing his programme.

"I-it's Umino Iruka," the voice answered, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen.

"Hi Iruka-san; it's Sasuke," Sasuke replied, making Iruka sigh in relief.

"Hi Sasuke-kun, is Kakashi available?" Iruka questioned nervously.

"He's working a case at the moment. He'll be back tomorrow- is it anything that I can help with?" Sasuke told the brunet, who seemed a bit put out.

"I- well, I need some advice." Iruka stressed, earning a hum in return.

"Fire away- what's the issue?" Sasuke asked. Iruka made a small stressed noise, and Sasuke could hear him clearly fiddling with the phone cord.

"In fact, would you be able to come over- it would be much easier if I talked in person. Then I could also show you," Iruka explained, making the raven's eyes widen at the invitation.

"Yeah, sure. What's up, Iruka-san?" Sasuke wanted to know. He'd known this man, somewhat, in his younger years, and didn't exactly want to see him suffer from something.

"I-it's a bit strange. I'll explain it all when you get here," Iruka nervously told the raven, who hummed.

"Okay- I'll be there as soon as I can- don't worry," Sasuke reassured, earning a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much, Sasuke-kun," Iruka thanked, before hanging up. Sasuke looked mournfully at his program, but pressed the record button before standing up and putting his shoes on, grabbing his mobile and side-bag that held his notepad and pens- as well as some of the more needed provisions, such as a pistol full of salt rounds and a bottle of holy water. Grabbing his keys before he left, Sasuke opened the front door and stepped out, nervous to see what had gotten Iruka so dishevelled.

As he made his way down the street, he grimaced at the raindrops that fell around him. Sasuke was regretting not taking an umbrella as he pulled his hood over his head, but the action being futile as his hood was then soaked.

"Fucking rain," he mumbled moodily as he made his way down the road, eventually arriving at the brunet's house and knocking on his door. It was opened almost instantly, making the raven jump, but a small smile overtook his features as he was invited in to the house. Once again, the heavy feeling was pressing on his conscience, making him feel slightly depressed.

"What's wrong, Iruka-san?" Sasuke asked, deciding to get straight down to business to try and ease the older man's worries. Iruka rang his hands together slightly, before leading Sasuke in to the lounge and fetching him a dark, fluffy towel. Sasuke nodded his thanks, and accepted the offer of a cup of tea that the older man had asked him about. After about ten minutes, the two were talking about mundane things, until eventually Sasuke thought it prudent to ask the brunet what was the matter. Once more, Iruka grew nervous and started to wring his hands together.

"W-well, I'm sure it might be nothing, but lately a few strange things have been happening around the house," he muttered, earning a perked eyebrow in return from Sasuke.

"What do you mean by 'strange'?" he asked the man, earning a breathless chuckle in return, and Sasuke could see that Iruka was uncomfortable.

"I'm not going to mock you, Iruka-san, I'm here to help," Sasuke reassured, earning a vulnerable look from the man in front of him. Eventually, Iruka took a deep breath, and started to explain what the matter was.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
V**

* * *

Naruto sighed, eyeing the pelting rain that bombarded the classroom windows and looked to Kiba with a desperate look in his eyes.

"Kiiiiibaaaaaa," he whined, earning a snort from the brunet that was for once diligently working away at his notes- Naruto had already finished his. Gaara just raised an eyebrow in interest at the blond's tone.

"I take it you did not bring an umbrella?" Gaara asked, going back to copying out Naruto's notes, as well as doing his own work. Naruto pouted and folded his arms across his chest.

"The weather forecast said it was going to be dry- excuse me for placing my faith in the weatherman!" he simply stated, earning a snort from both of the males at the table.

"Dude, you only pay attention to him because you think he's hot!" Kiba threw out, managing to avoid the oncoming fist.

"He's _Australian_, Kiba! Australian accents are hot!" he protested, not noticing the amused smirk on Gaara's face as he just continued to silently work with his notes. Kiba just laughed at the blond, folding his arms across his chest in triumph.

"What are you going to do for me if I give you a lift?" Kiba bargained, earning a frustrated, strangled noise escape the tan throat. However, the noise was short-lived as a devious plan formed in the blond's mind.

"I won't tell Hinata that you doodled her name in your notebook- or that when you fell asleep in class that you were muttering her name!" Naruto bargained, evilly laughing at the two choked sounds his information received- one from Gaara, the other from Kiba.

"You can't do that! It goes against the Guyble!" Kiba forced out, earning an approving hum from Gaara, who obviously agreed. Naruto just shrugged, seeming not to care about breaking the honorary 'Bro Code'.

"Do I look like I care- you know me Kiba; I'm a rebel!" he replied, winking at the brunet, showing him that he was entirely serious. A small growl escaped Kiba's throat at the threat and not being able to get something out of the deal.

"Fine!" he reluctantly agreed, but a small smile was playing at his lips when the blond launched himself at Kiba with a huge grin and hug. Kiba sighed harshly, pretending to be irritated, but seeing as he had upset his friend the other day, he couldn't help but feel glad that things were slightly back to normal. Naruto pulled away from the hug with a smile.

"I'll pay for the petrol," he told the brunet, who nodded in agreement, shaking the tanned hand. Gaara just sighed roughly from the side and Naruto approached him, leaning to see the notes.

"Do you need any help?" he asked the redhead, who sighed once more in return, trying to stem a small blush.

"I'm fine, just a bit confused about what state the permanganic acid would be in if we boiled away the water. Would it still be unstable?" he asked the blond, who hummed in thought for a while, before answering.

"Gaara, it's permanganic acid- it'll only ever be stable when it's dilute. If we were to un-dilute it, it would most probably kill us all in this class. However, if you were to ionise it, I'm quite certain it would be a tiny more stable so you could dilute it a little less," Naruto told the redhead, who frowned and tilted his head.

"So we could keep on ionising it until it becomes un-diluted, and it'd be safe," he theorised, earning a shake of the head from Naruto.

"Sorry, no. By that point, it would be something completely different," Naruto told the redhead, who sighed once more. Kiba snorted at the information given, and patted Naruto on the shoulder.

"Ah, once again, Asuma-sensei has set us something impossible," Kiba told them with a nostalgic smile, making Naruto laugh and clap Gaara on the shoulder. Brown eyes then darted to the clock, noting that they only had five minutes to go before the end of class was officially there.

"Hey, if we finish up real quick, we could go back to mine and play some video games for a while!" Kiba told them enthusiastically. The statement just made Naruto snort as he sat on the desk beside Gaara's notebook, swinging his feet.

"Dude, you're the ones who need to hurry up- I'm done!" he reminded the others, who sweated slightly at the fact they were being outdone by someone who used to have the worst grades ever in the history of the school. Grumbling slightly, the two managed to finish their work, whilst Naruto helpfully pointed out their mistakes along the way. By the time they had both finished, Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, loving how he'd become a leaning pillar of the class. Despite his earlier years of being bullied, he'd never come to resent the class, just wishing to help it instead. Nevertheless, the blond mused, he sometimes wished that he'd been treated a little better in his younger years. But hey, how were you supposed to react when you're told the son of a murdered woman is being transferred into your class? Naruto thought that they had a good reason to be hostile. He sighed slightly, not noticing that the other two had packed up and were glancing worriedly at his forlorn expression. Eventually, Kiba worked up the courage to distract him, wincing slightly when the blond jumped.

"C'mon dude, let's go!" he told Naruto, putting on his best smile, earning one in reply- albeit a small sad one. The smile almost wanted to make Kiba cry himself, but he resisted the urge to do just that- and maybe to take the blond and hug him senseless- and led them through the front doors of the school to the carpark. Naruto winced slightly when the rain pelted his bare arms, freezing his skin, but nevertheless made his way to Kiba's car, yelling 'shotgun' as he did so. Gaara just rolled his eyes whilst Kiba smiled slightly, glad that whatever it was that was worrying the blond seemed to be put at ease for a small while. Whilst in the car, the jackets were shed and the heating blasted onto full. Naruto smiled and pulled out his mobile phone, texting Iruka to let him know that he was going to be at Kiba's for a while. Kiba smiled from the driver's seat and popped in a cassette tape, whilst Gaara scoffed at the cars 'antiquity' as Kiba liked to say.

"Seriously; who has a cassette player nowadays?" Gaara asked lowly, earning an unappreciative finger-wag from the brunet whilst Naruto looked on with a smile.

"Oh Gaara- you should know that only the classics are on cassette!" he mockingly told the other, who glared in return.

"Treat me like a child, Inuzuka, and I'll make sure that you don't have any," the redhead threatened, earning a shiver from both boys in the front, despite the heat. Gaara smirked at the effect, and leant back on the leather seats, crossing his arms.

"Are you going to start driving?" he asked Kiba, who flushed slightly and grumbled as he slipped the keys into ignition, turning them as he did so. Naruto grinned at Gaara, who smirked in return. A small vibrating caught Naruto's attention, making him glance to his phone to see that he had a message from Iruka. Smiling, the blond flipped it open to read the text, smile only growing when his guardian said it was okay. He was startled out of his good mood when an electric guitar rift ripped throughout the car, and the blond grinned as he recognised the song.

"Dude, turn it up!" he told Kiba, who gave him a thumbs up, turning the volume dial. In the back seat, Gaara secretly studied the blond with intense eyes. After Sasuke had told him that he'd met Naruto, the redhead was curious as to what had intrigued the raven. Sasuke had explained that there was a suffocating and depressing aura around the house and a bit on Naruto himself. So, being the good best friend (and dedicated co-worker) he was, he'd told Sasuke that he'd check Naruto out. As he observed the blond from the backseat, he couldn't help but frown slightly- Sasuke had been right. There was a heavy presence on the blond's shoulders, almost as if it were sitting there. Gaara briefly entertained himself with the image of a little devil and angel on his friend's shoulders but shook the image from his head as he concentrated even harder on his friend. Slowly, the heavy presence shifted, and teal eyes widened as he watched it slide down his back, down his arms and into his phone. At that instant, Naruto's phone started playing a light tune and the blond flipped it open to answer it, only to be met with a dead line. Gaara frowned as the black mass then dissipated into thin air.

"Who was on the phone?" Kiba asked the blond as he turned into the carpark for his apartment complex. Naruto shrugged as the three of them stepped out of the car, being pelted by rain.

"I dunno; the line went dead," he explained, earning a confused hum from Kiba as they ran to the entrance hall, which was still chilly, but at least safe from the rain. Gaara sighed slightly; shoving his hands into his pockets as they waited made their way to the elevator, Naruto pressing the button as they arrived.

"So what games are we gunna be playing?" Naruto asked excitedly as they waited for the elevator to arrive. Kiba hummed at the question, being broken out of his reverie as a small '_ding_' sounded, notifying them of the elevator's arrival. The trio entered, Kiba pressing the '6' button as he did so. The doors slid closed and Kiba finally answered Naruto's question as the ascended floors.

"Well, I just got the new Halo, we could play multi-player?" Kiba suggested, earning a cheer form Naruto at the mention of 'Halo'. Gaara sighed, however.

"You two can play campaign if you'd like- I'm gunna do some extra credit work if that's okay with you?" he asked Kiba, who shrugged in reply.

"That's cool with me. Hey Nar-" whatever Kiba was going to say next was cut off as the elevator juddered, causing all three to stumble where they stood.

"That didn't sound too good," Gaara mumbled as Naruto started to hyperventilate. The floor buttons were flashing and a grinding sound was heard, as well as the stressing of wires. Kiba's eyes darted around, landing on the worried Naruto.

"Are you okay, Naru?" Kiba asked, approaching his worried friend. Naruto nodded slightly, wincing when he felt the elevator swerve slightly. A massive clunk then assaulted the ears of the occupants in the elevator, causing them to worry. Gaara's eyes widened as he felt a sharp grip on his forearm and looked to find that the source was a tanned hand. He met with frightened blue eyes but just smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, Naruto. It'll be okay," he told Naruto warmly before detaching his hand and making his way over to the 'Emergency Call' button. He pressed it, leaning to speak when a voice asked what the problem was.

"Our elevator seems to have stopped on the third floor. Could you send someone please?" Gaara asked, waiting for a reply, but just being met with static. Red eyebrows furrowed as he listened, still only receiving a static reply.

"Asshole," he muttered, before the lights went out, bathing them in darkness. Two panicked yells could be heard and the elevator swayed dangerously once more.

"I-it must be something to do with the weather- maybe it's a power cut?" Kiba reasoned, feeling the death grip on his arm that belonged to the blond.

"Wh-when is it gonna pass?" Naruto begged, hoping that his friends had the answers. There was a hum from where the two knew Gaara to be and all eyes flew to him when there was a slight source of light from the redhead's phone screen, illuminating the area.

"It should pass in about half an hour," he stated, making the blond pale, the artificial light making his skin tone seem worse.

"B-but what about air! We could suffocate!" Naruto panicked, then making Kiba panic in return.

"What the Hell! Can we phone for help?_!_" Kiba asked. All three of them glanced at their phone screens, noting that there was no signal. It didn't matter, however, as they could still call the emergency services. With a relieved sigh, Naruto pressed in the vital three digits and waited for it to ring. However, he was met with a dead line. Paling, he turned to Kiba.

"I can't get through- you try!" he told the brunet, who in turn tried to ring for help. He shook his head, however, when he was met with a dead line also. Gaara then tried, also gaining the same result. A small whimper was heard from the blond when there was another snapping sound, followed by a sharp jolt downwards. Then the feeling of weightlessness was felt throughout the entire elevator as the three of them raised off the ground slightly. Three terrified yells ripped throughout the falling metal object that was rapidly making its way towards the ground with its three occupants yelling out in fear. As they fell, however, a short burst of ringtone sounded on Naruto's phone, the caller ID showing as 'Unknown' before it was cut out with a metallic crash.

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**~Possessed~  
VI**

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Suigetsu didn't consider himself the world's most important person. In fact, he was just a blip of an existence in the long run, not destined for anything that would change humanity as far as he was concerned. Nevertheless, as he walked down the street- large slushy in one hand, the other clutching an umbrella- he felt as though he'd been punched in the chest as he saw three ambulances speeding by to the entrance of his apartment complex. Instant worries flooded his mind. Was his girlfriend okay? Did Granny Chiyo fall down the stairs? What if someone had broken in and murdered a few residents?_!_ With these questions taking residence in his mind, he dropped his slushy to the floor and rushed forward, ignoring the red splotch his iced drink made. As he approached, he instantly rushed to one of the police officers who were talking to the engineer of the building.

"What happened?_!_" he gasped, knuckles white from the grip he had on the umbrella. The officer turned to him with solemn eyes.

"Do you know any of these three?" the officer asked, showing him a pictures of a brunet with red tattooed cheeks, another of a redhead with dark bags under his eyes and the final one of a blue-eyed blond with whisker markings on each cheek. His free hand covered his mouth as he stared at the two that he knew.

"The brunet is my next-door neighbour- Inuzuka Kiba- and the blond is my girlfriend's cousin, Uzumaki Naruto!" he weakly told the officer, who then put the pictures away, clasping a hand on his shoulder that had slumped in grief.

"Your friends fell from the third floor in the elevator; we're sending them to the hospital," the officer explained to the shocked man, who nodded numbly.

"Are they okay? Are they going to live?" he asked the man, who chewed nervously on his lower lip.

"The damage was pretty extensive for Inuzuka-kun, as well as the other, but Uzumaki-kun was bleeding quite badly," he muttered, not noticing that Suigetsu had whipped out his phone to call his girlfriend. After a few rings, the line was picked up.

"Hey babes," Karin answered cheerfully, obviously not knowing what had happened to her pseudo-cousin. Suigetsu swallowed a few times, alerting Karin to the fact that something was wrong.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting up on her chair that she was currently lounged in.

"N-Naruto's in the hospital," he told his girlfriend, wincing when a loud yell came down the phone.

"Wh-what? What happened? Is he okay? Can I see him?" she rambled, making Suigetsu collapse backwards, sitting on the drenched asphalt.

"H-he; the elevator in my apartment complex fell whilst he and a couple of friends were inside. They say he's bleeding pretty badly," he sighed, hating to be the bearer of bad news. There was a silent gasp and a sniff on the other end before a yell sounded.

"MAMA! NARU'S IN THE HOSPITAL!" Karin screamed, obviously panicked. Suigetsu cringed, never having heard such a painful emotion in the girl's voice.

"I'm sorry, Karin," he whispered whilst the girl sobbed over the phone.

"Wh-which hospital is he in?" Karin hiccupped, obviously moving to get ready to visit the blond. Suigetsu turned to the officer, repeating the question, nodding when he received the answer.

"He's at Konoha General," he replied, then being cut off by the dial tone. Suigetsu sighed, turning to look at the destruction the elevator had caused at his apartment complex. His eyes then caught a news reporter, talking into a camera. She then caught his eye and rushed over to him.

"Sir! Sir! Can you tell us what happened please?_! _I heard it involved the murdered Uzumaki woman's son!" she enthusiastically yelled, a massive grin on her face for having caught this accident. A small part in Suigetsu's brain registered just how idiotic his next move would be, but his instincts kicked ion, and all he heard in his head was Karin's pained yell before he turned to the camera.

"I suggest you never publish this story," he told the camera, before swinging his fist and connecting it with the woman's face. He then turned back to the camera lens.

"If I were you, I'd not poke around in dangerous waters when personal issues are involved. Leave it for the sob-stories to come to you," he advised swiftly, rubbing his knuckles on his jeans and turning to the woman who was glaring at him from behind a bruised jaw and pride.

"I'm not above hitting a woman when she treads in personal waters," he glared, then receiving one in reply.

"I really feel sorry for the woman who marries you," she spat. A silver eyebrow rose at that in response before he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Bitch, please, she deals harder blows than I do," he remarked before walking away, picking up his umbrella from where it had fallen. With a forlorn sigh, he walked to his apartment building, opening the doors and avoiding the forensics team- not wanting to know how much blood there was- and continued up the stairs to the fourth floor.

'_Such a pain to walk,_' he mused to himself as he ascended the stairs, umbrella dripping rainwater onto the floor. The silver-haired twenty-one year old frowned at the puddles, going over in his head about all the health risks it could cause. Sure enough, he heard a slight yell and bang as someone slipped forward and whacked their chin. Suigetsu knew he should feel a bit guilty, but when he realised that it was one of his girlfriend's cousin's tormenters, he let the guilt slide. As he approached his door, he noticed something strange. The elevator doors were open, revealing the shaft, letting in a cool breeze. Muttering to himself about stupid police officers and their inability to close doors behind themselves, he approached the entrance, shivering as he did so- the air coming through was freezing. What caught him most off-guard though, wasn't the freezing air, or even the dirty smell; it was the fact that the wires that held the elevator up weren't frayed, as they would be after it snapping, but it was a clean slice.

"Odd," he muttered to himself, leaning back from where he'd leant forward to check out the area. Unknowing to him, he just missed the swipe of a hand, going to grab at him. Without much of a second thought, Suigetsu took out a cigarette- even though Karin hated him smoking- and entered his apartment. Whilst he was inside, he sighed at the mess, walking around the room and throwing his dirty clothes into a washing basket and some in the washing machine. He placed his cigarette on the table, noting that the piece of furniture needed a wipe down with a cloth. As he worked around his apartment area, cleaning up so that Karin wouldn't yell at him when she stayed over next, his eyes skimmed over a photo of him, Karin and Naruto laughing at a day out in the park. A small smile made its way onto his lips as he remembered back to the day. Naruto had been cautious of him at first, seeing as there was five-year age gap, but eventually let up when he'd saved the girl from drowning in the local lake. Sure, it was a bad day- Karin had a towel around her shoulders and Suigetsu's jacket- at the start, but as they grew to know each other better, the better friends they became. Suigetsu even had a suitable income and stable job at the local law firm so Naruto could confirm that he was a decent person. Karin's mother was still a bit against the idea that her sixteen-year-old daughter was dating a twenty-one-year-old man, but kept her distance. Nevertheless, at the sight of one thing going wrong, she'd be on him in an instant.

After Suigetsu had cleaned up the apartment, he picked up his cigarette from the table (which had been wiped down) and went out onto his balcony area to light it. He puffed at his cigarette, deep in thought about what had happened, then grimacing when he realised he'd have to go to the other side of the building to use that elevator when he went up to his floor.

"Damn," he muttered, finishing his cigarette and stamping it out on the floor. He briefly realised he should pick up the butt, but decided he'd just sweep the balcony later. As he made his way back inside, his landline rang, causing him to jump slightly. He pulled the receiver to his ear with a flourish.

"N'yello? Suigetsu speaking," he told the person on the other end. All he received in reply, however, was a lot of static and a heavy breathing. As he was contemplating putting the phone down, a new voice entered that he recognised.

"I-it must be something to do with the weather- maybe it's a power cut?" the voice of Inuzuka Kiba was static-y, as was the whole background noise.

"Wh-when is it gonna pass?" a new voice entered, which he recognised as the blond's. It was sounding panicked- and with good reason, Suigetsu thought. Naruto had never been good when it came to enclosed spaces for too long.

"It should pass in about half an hour," a new voice chimed in. Suigetsu realised that it must've been the redhead who was with the other two.

"B-but what about air! We could suffocate!"

"What the Hell! Can we phone for help?_!_" Kiba and Naruto were starting to panic by now, the silver-haired man could tell, as there was intense breathing, which just mirrored his own as sweat was starting to form on his hands.

"I can't get through- you try!" It was obvious that whatever methods the teens were trying wasn't working as they all had several rounds of trying to contact the outside world.

Suigetsu's stomach dropped as he realised what was going on- it was the conversation between the three in the lift of what had transpired. He knew what was coming next, and dreaded to hear it. He wanted to hang up, but he couldn't. The curiosity was killing him too much. His eyes widened as he heard three terrified yells, followed by an evil, breathy laugh when the elevator plummeted to the ground, a sickening metallic crunch being all what was heard when the line went dead. Suigetsu didn't think that he was the most important person in the universe, only that he was just a blip of an existence. However, at that moment, Suigetsu had become very important to the case involving Uzumaki Naruto.

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**Possessed  
Chapter Two: End**

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**MWAHAHAHA! I feel so evil right now! Not only do I update late, but I involve Kiba, Gaara and Naru-chan in a giant lift explosion! Well, it wasn't an explosion, but you get my point.**

**Once again, I'm so sorry this is late- I planned to have it up on Wednesday. I finished it on Monday, then I had work; and Tuesdays I have computer time limits so my PC doesn't come on. Wednesday my niece was staying over, so I couldn't go on my computer, Thursday, ditto Tuesday; and last night I was helping my step-mother get ready for a fair today. So, here you have the late chapter!**

**Due to this week's mess, you'll probably have a late chapter next week (expect it Sunday/Monday after next Sunday)**

**I hope you enjoyed it, and remember to **review**!**

**~Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Possessed**

**xCastielsGirlx**

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**Author's Note:** I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOO sorry that this chapter is so late! Some intense shit happened at home, so I couldn't write all that much, but, it's here now, so I'll hope you enjoy it :)

**Warnings:** Once more: hints of SasuNaru, violence, supernatural horror, and swearing

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any 'Naruto' characters- they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. And remember, I'm bullshitting my way through legends, science and medical stuff. Don't believe any 'facts'

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**This is a work of Fiction. Any names, places or an event linking to the real world is purely coincidental.**

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**3.**

Iruka fiddled with the handle of his teacup as he explained his issues to Sasuke. The raven sat there quietly, intently listening to what the brunet had to say about the latest going ons in the house, as well as the abusive texts he'd caught glimpses of on Naruto's phone. At the mention of the blond's ex-boyfriend, Sasuke's jaw had clenched and his knuckles turned white as he gripped his own cup harder; it was a miracle the handle didn't break off. Iruka noticed this, but decided it best not to comment on it, as not to upset the raven further. Nevertheless, he continued to explain the odd misgivings, such as the disappearing salt, the cracking picture frame and the fact that Naruto's nightmares had started reappearing again after nine years. Sasuke listened to the man carefully, eyes widening when Iruka mentioned all of the salt disappearing. Sasuke sighed and took a sip of his tea before opening his mouth to say something. However, before he could, he was interrupted by the ringing of the house phone. Both men turned towards it, a curious look in their eyes.

"Sorry about this Sasuke-kun," Iruka apologised, going to answer the phone.

"Hello, this is Umino Iruka speaking," Iruka told the person on the end of the phone. Sasuke sighed and leant back into the sofa, absorbing the information he'd been told from the brunet. His concentration was shattered however when a yell sounded throughout the house.

"He _WHAT?_!" Iruka screeched, panic evident in his voice. Sasuke jumped up, cursing when his tea spilt and burned his lap.

"Iruka-san? What is it?" Sasuke asked, making his way over to the brunet, placing his teacup on the mantelpiece as he did so.

"Y-yes, I understand; I'll be there right away!" Iruka sniffed, wiping his eyes, making Sasuke worry even more. As Iruka hung up, Sasuke instantly repeated the question he'd asked.

"Iruka-san! What happened?" Sasuke begged, wanting to know what had happened to make the adult so upset. The brunet was moving about quickly, grabbing his jacket and car keys before making his way out of the front door. Sasuke followed him, pulling on his still-damp jacket and closing the door behind him, not even being asked why he was following the brunet into his car. Iruka just yanked open the driver's side door whilst Sasuke occupied the passenger's seat. Hastily, Iruka tugged his seatbelt on, the action being mirrored by Sasuke to his left. Only when Iruka had swerved out of the drive and started to speed down the road did Sasuke receive an answer to his question.

"Naruto's in the hospital; he fell from the third floor in a lift," Iruka explained to the raven, whose jaw had dropped at the news and his fists clenched into balled fists.

"I-is he okay?" Sasuke asked, shell-shocked. Iruka's jaw tightened and Sasuke felt a weight settle in his stomach, dreading to know the answer; but the curiosity was killing him, and he'd rather he heard the news from someone he knew rather than someone he didn't. Iruka's grip on the steering wheel also tightened, and Sasuke really regretted asking the question.

"They're all stable; but apparently Naruto sustained the most damage," Iruka whispered, both confusing and distressing Sasuke.

"'All stable'? There were others in the lift?" Sasuke asked, taken aback, feeling a wave of hot sick wash over his soul when he realised who would be with the blond when they'd just come out of college. Iruka's shaky nod confirmed Sasuke's suspicions, and Sasuke sent Kakashi a quick text, letting him know that Gaara was in the Hospital. The rest of the car ride was conceived in a tense silence, neither of them daring to break it. As the hospital came into view, Iruka pressed harder on the accelerator, swerving into the car park and an empty space that was luckily there. After this had happened, both males hurriedly ripped their seatbelts off and practically dived out of the doors, sprinting to the entrance. When they reached the receptionist, they skidded to a halt, Sasuke almost toppling over the desk. The woman behind the counter leaned back, green eyes wide at the arrival.

"Which ward is Uzumaki Naruto in?" Iruka breathed out. It took a while for the shaken receptionist to type in the name before stuttering out a meek '32B, on the third floor!'. Sasuke nodded to her, and instantly stalked off, going up the stairs three at a time, Iruka not far behind him. At last, they reached the third floor and searched out the provided room for the blond. As they reached it, a small amount of hesitance was shown in both of their figures, but Iruka shoved it away and slammed the door open, eyes searching for a head of blond hair. There was a small sigh of relief as it was found and Iruka instantly hurried over to his adopted son, worry clearly shown in his features. Sasuke hung back by the door, not wanting to intrude on the family moment that was obviously being shared between Iruka and the unconscious blond.

Iruka was leaning over the bed, gently pushing the blond bangs away from the tanned face, fear lacing his features. He'd never been so close to losing Naruto before, and it was terrifying him. What would happen if he lost the blond? He didn't know what he would do. His hands were gently skirting over the tan, as if scared he would break the boy beneath him with his touch. Eventually, he stood back and collapsed onto the chair that was next to the bed. Sasuke looked towards the other two beds, noticing that they also had guests. Gaara was being visited by Kankuro and Temari, his siblings, and Kiba was being lectured by his mother, even in his unconscious state. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and made his way over to Temari and Kankuro to observe Gaara.

"Is he going to be okay?" Sasuke asked the siblings. Kankuro sneezed and Temari sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration.

"The doctor said that Gaara and Kiba should wake up tomorrow," Temari relayed to the raven, still staring intently at her little brother, stroking his red hair gently. Sasuke eyed Kankuro, noting that he seemed stressed and pale.

"Are you okay, Kankuro?" Sasuke decided to ask, seeing as he'd be staying for a while. Kankuro just nodded slightly, not taking his eyes off of Gaara. After a few minutes of this, Sasuke turned to look at Naruto's bed, his breath hitching when he saw that there were a substantial amount of wires coming out of his body and the oxygen mask was covering his face. As he stepped closer to the blond, Sasuke fought the overwhelming urge to shake the blond and slap him across the face. His hands shook, however, against his body's ministrations and the raven felt an all-consuming rage fly throughout his veins.

'_There was no way this was an accident!_' he thought to himself, clenching his hands into fists as he felt the intense presence around him. It briefly registered in his mind that he should calm down, and that he was causing the spiritual disturbances, but the fact that Naruto had been targeted these past few days made him all the more suspicious. Then there was the time when he'd been invited over to the house. Iruka had allowed him to do a quick sweep of the house with his EMF detector before he explained why he was so weary. There were some unusual spikes, but nothing too big, which confused Sasuke. It was as if there was something there, and it was purposely emitting a small amount of EMF, but not enough for it to warrant concern. Something was playing with them, and it was seeing how far it could go before they broke. A small growl emitted from Sasuke as he stared at Naruto's unconscious figure on the white sheets, anger that he hadn't felt in a while making its presence known.

"Iruka," Sasuke ground out, earning a strange look from the brunet that was still leaning over his adopted son, worry in his eyes.

"What is it Sasuke-kun?" Iruka asked, not noticing that their conversation had drawn the attention of the others upon his person. Kankuro and Temari weren't a problem, but Kiba's mother didn't know of his profession, and he didn't exactly want to be branded a nut-job by this woman. Iruka must've caught the small glance to Tsume because he broke away from Naruto's side to join Sasuke outside the hospital room. Sasuke covered his mouth with his hand and looked around the area to check that they weren't being watched or over-heard. He even went as far as to feel around for any unwanted presences. Iruka watched the man with a slight cautiousness, wondering why he had been called away from his adopted son. Just as he was about to open his mouth and talk to Sasuke, the man pulled his hand away from his mouth and spoke.

"I don't think this was an accident," he told the brunet, who's eyes widened to epic proportions, but it was ignored as Sasuke continued.

"As you've said, within the last few weeks, things have been happening- strange things. When I swept the house with my EMF detector, something was holding back its presence." By this point Iruka was looking horrified at the thought of something intentionally hurting his son. He could deal with bad things happening to him, but if somebody was hurting Naruto, he wasn't going to just stand by and let it happen.

"So what can I do?" Iruka growled, startling Sasuke from his explanation. Sasuke looked to Iruka, a contemplative frown on his face.

"Well, most spirits don't like salt, so you could try lining all entryways with that- mind you, if it's inside the house, that won't do." He muttered to himself, tugging on his inky bangs, trying to think of a solution.

"Can you perform any cleansing rituals?" Iruka sharply asked, willing to try any option to make his home safe again. Sasuke sighed and looked Iruka in the eyes.

"If we were to do that, it'd most probably make the entity even more angry and cause more harm than good. I have a feeling that it's a strong spirit," Sasuke relayed, not being able to watch as Iruka became devastated.

"Naruto should be safe here in the hospital though; most entities are location-orientated, and so he'll be safe for the next few days whilst we figure out what to do. We may have to launch a full-scale investigation in your house, so if it comes to that, do we have your permission?" Sasuke asked. Iruka sighed heavily, rubbing his hand over his face in frustration. However, as he looked through the hospital door where the blond was apparently peaceful, he felt his resolve crumble within seconds.

"Only as a last resort will I let you and your team investigate the house. Naruto's always been sensitive, and I don't want him getting upset," Iruka told the Uchiha, who nodded in understanding that they would only go in if absolutely needed. Sasuke then glanced back to the room where the three boys were sleeping.

"Are you going to be okay?" Sasuke asked Iruka, who just shrugged in return.

"I'm not going to be leaving his side until he wakes up, that's for certain," Iruka mumbled, and Sasuke hummed in return, folding his arms across his chest. Just as Iruka was going to open his mouth to continue the conversation, a stampede of footsteps was making its presence known. The brunet didn't have time to register who the footsteps belonged to before he was being pulled into a crushing hug.

"Iruka-senpai! Is Naru-chan okay? What happened?_!_" Sasuke just blinked at the sudden arrival of red and silver and the mixed jumble of voices asking questions. Sasuke stepped back to see that it was a sixteen-year-old girl and his friend from college, Hōzuki Suigetsu. It took Sasuke a while to realise that Suigetsu had taken part in the hug unwillingly, as he was joined at the hand by the red-haired girl. Iruka eventually managed to break away from the young girl, panting for breath and rubbing at his ribs that were now incredibly sore.

"Karin-san, calm down! Naruto is okay- he'll be waking up by tomorrow!" Iruka gasped, still needing air after his abusive treatment. Sasuke just snorted slightly, which then alerted the attention of Suigetsu, who only just noticed Sasuke for the first time.

"Uchiha? Is that you?" A massive shark-grin overtook Suigetsu's face and Sasuke's smirk slid from his face when he realised what Suigetsu was about to do. In no time, Sasuke found that his airways were restricted, and a pair of arms was lifting him into the air.

"Man! It's been too long! How've you been? What are you doing here?" Suigetsu asked all at once, not giving Sasuke a chance to respond or even breathe. Iruka and Karin both turned to look at Sasuke, whose lungs were being constricted by Suigetsu's arms.

"I-I'm good; Suigetsu, let go!" Sasuke gasped, his pleas being ignored as Suigetsu continued to jump on the spot. It was only when Karin physically prised him from the raven that Sasuke was able to properly breathe; and when he did, it was with shallow gasps.

"Jesus, Suigetsu; did you have to try and kill him?_!_" Karin yelled at the silver-haired man, who grinned sheepishly, looking to the agitated Uchiha.

"Sorry man; but what are you doing here?" Suigetsu quizzed once more, earning an uncomfortable silence in return, which Suigetsu then interpreted.

"Are you dating Naruto?" he asked Sasuke, making both Iruka and the raven choke on air at the question. Both then spluttered for response, which in turn earned them a frown from Suigetsu.

"Did Pa not know?" Suigetsu asked, turning to face Iruka, who then rounded on Sasuke, a furious look on his face.

"Are you seeing Naruto?" he growled, earning a choking noise from the raven.

"N-no! I'm not dating Naruto, Iruka-san!" Sasuke reassured, still not being let up from the suspicious glare from the brown-eyed man.

"Why, is Naruto not good enough?" Iruka asked suspiciously, and in turn, Sasuke paled under the scrutinising look. It was obvious that Iruka was _extremely_ protective over Naruto, but he didn't want to feel as though Naruto would _never_ be able find love. If someone was saying his adopted son was un-datable, he'd have words with them. Sasuke looked frustrated, whilst Suigetsu smirked, arms folded across his chest, clearly enjoying the raven's struggle- Karin had already entered Naruto's room and was worrying over him like a mother would.

"I'm not dating Naruto, Iruka-san; but I'm not saying that he isn't datable!" Sasuke tried, hoping this would appease the brunet before him; it only seemed to make Iruka raise his guard though.

"So you want to date Naruto? Are you hitting on him?_!_" Iruka yelled, which then caused Suigetsu to burst out laughing and Sasuke to groan unappreciatively. It was going to be a very long time to get Iruka to understand that even though Sasuke thought that the blond was delicious, he had no intentions on doing anything 'inappropriate' with said blond; at least- in Sasuke's mind- until he was out of the hospital and all of his problems were fully resolved.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
VII**

* * *

The first thing that registered in his cloud-filled mind was the fact that he was comfortable. He could also feel the left side of his face being warmer than the right side, and there was a weight settling there. Then there was the slight sound of beeping; it was steady and peaceful, almost lulling him back to sleep. A nagging voice in the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Kiba was yelling at him to wake up and that he'd been asleep for far too long. The more this voice insisted this fact, the more pain Naruto felt, which in turn made him more reluctant to wake up. A loud, rumbling growl was then heard and Naruto felt himself mentally flinch at the sound. It didn't sound pleasant at all and along with it, a wave of fear coursed, hitting Naruto like a freight train.

'_Are you scared?' _a deep voice rumbled, hitting the corners of his mind, sending shivers down his spine. Naruto just squeezed his eyes tighter, not liking the situation. It was dark and cold; not to mention the massive evil aura surrounding him. The scene then distorted around him, changing into a sewer of sorts. There were many tunnels leading off, and a strong heat emanated from one of them. The water surrounding his ankles was dirty and cold; polluted. With short breaths, Naruto walked towards the heat, his steps making a sloshing sound, the water rising to mid-calf as he approached a large set of gates held together by a flimsy piece of white paper. A huge heat wave cascaded over the tan face, blowing back a few locks of blond hair as he continued to stare. In a daze, Naruto advanced, stretching out a hand to touch the paper; he wanted to tear it down and pull the gates open, regardless of the consequences.

"Dobe, don't touch that!" a strong, deep voice penetrated the mind of the blond, and he froze just before his fingertips touched the worn piece of paper. With the force that would give any normal person whiplash, Naruto spun his head to face the owner of the voice, eyes widening when he saw who it was.

"S-Sasuke? What are you doing here? Where am I?" he asked the raven, arm still raised, surprised when Sasuke approached him cautiously, eyes not leaving his hand.

"Step away from the paper, Naruto," Sasuke warned, confusing the blond, who frowned in return.

"Why? It's just a bit of paper!" and to prove his point, the blond leant forward, going to rip the paper from its place on the gates.

"DOBE!"

It was at that moment that the blond sat up, panting but being constricted; he started to panic, twisting when he felt hands on his body forcing him onto his back. Muffled screams were torn from his throat as he tried to get away. All was in vain, however, as he then felt a massive jolt on his chest and a pulse of electricity shoot throughout his body. Then there was the feel of knives being dragged across his skin and the pressure of needles. Somebody was screaming in the background; a child. Successfully, he managed to turn his head to see where the voice was coming from, only to see a young blond boy, crying and covered in blood. The soft feeling of hair tickling on his cheek caught this attention, but all he could see was red before everything went black_._

"Do you think he's gunna be okay?"

"I'm not too sure; I managed to stop him from doing anything, but when he touched it, he must've had some intense flashbacks."

"You mean-"

"He may have had a traumatic relapse. I'm so sorry Iruka, but he may be out for even longer."

"It's okay, you did say; I just thought you may be able to help."

"Guys! His eyes are open!"

"What?_!"_

A small groan erupted from the mouth that was covered by an oxygen mask and a blurry hospital room was all that was seen from the blond that was currently lying on the bed, covered by blankets. He was instantly bundled by several bodies and choked out a garbled cough in response, eyes hazed, but wide in fear. His vision was getting slightly better, and he could roughly work out who was bundled on him; it was Karin, Kiba and Suigetsu. Their mixed voices assaulted his ears, making it hard for him to discern anything at all from the garbled nonsense coming at him from all sides.

"H-help!" he croaked out, eyes searching for Iruka as he felt his body, ears and eyes being assaulted by some of his friends. There was a light snort and a slight sob that Naruto could only judge came from Iruka.

"Get off of him" a voice drawled, and the bodies slowly retreated until Naruto could properly see who was surrounding him. Two people were complete strangers, another a not-so-nice-acquaintance whilst the others were faces the blond could easily recognise. However, there was really only one person the blond wanted to recognise at that moment, what with there being tears in his eyes.

"Iruka!" he strained, his voice dry and croaking due to the lack of water. A heavy silence descended at the same time as the tears, and Iruka stepped forward, pulling his adopted son into a gentle hug, feeling relieved that the blond had finally woken up. There was an awkward cough and the sound of feet shuffling on the tiled floor, squeaking. Naruto winced at the sound before looking around at the people surrounding him. His eyes landed on Gaara and Kiba, the latter of whom was on crutches, grinning soundly at his friend. Gaara was looking highly uncomfortable with a bandage around his neck, just slightly smiling at the blond. Azure eyes then shifted over the other faces, recognising Karin, Suigetsu and Sasuke. The other two were complete strangers, but if Naruto had to guess, he'd say they were relatives of Sasuke, seeing as they all had the same aura surrounding them. One of them was leaning against a wall, arms folded across his chest and long hair brushed back into a ponytail; the other wore and eye-patch and mask, his flyaway grey hair seeming to defy the very laws of gravity. His eye was turned into a smile as he watched Naruto wake up.

"H-how long have I been out for?" Naruto asked, dreading the answer. If Kiba and Gaara had already semi-healed from the accident, then how long had he been unconscious for? Thoughts of unfinished coursework and experiments flew through his mind, not giving him a rest.

"You've been out for about a month now," Iruka explained, gently squeezing the tanned hand that was clenched in his own. Cerulean eyes widened at the piece of information, and Naruto found himself hyperventilating.

"A- a whole month?!" he squeaked, not liking how he'd been out for so long. The people around him all nodded or made noises of agreement. Naruto just couldn't comprehend the situation- he'd never been unconscious that long before. Not even when his mother had-

Naruto shivered at the memory. After his mother had been slaughtered, he'd gone into a comatose state, not waking up- the doctors had said that it was trauma. All Naruto knew was that he had been plagued with two weeks of nightmares that he couldn't escape from, hence his desire for sleeping pills at such a young age. The doctors refused, insisting that the blond go for therapy and hypnotise himself into sleeping, which Naruto did every night. But of course, no matter what he did, the nightmares seemed to have come back the last few weeks- ever since the end of June, he'd been having reoccurring dreams, nightmares about the night. Sometimes he dreamt that he couldn't run away from the monster and would be torn to shreds, whilst other times he'd dream that he was in a dark room with nothing around him and that he couldn't talk. He couldn't see, nor hear or do anything at all.

A comforting hand on his forehead brought him from his musings and the blond smiled apologetically at his guardian for zoning out, especially seeing as his heart rate monitor had decided to pick up on his panic. The attention of that brought with it the attention of the two men that Naruto didn't know. He looked to the two of them with a confused look on his face, not knowing what to make of them. The one with the ponytail spoke first.

"I can see why you like him, little brother; he's adorable. I'm Itachi by the way, Uchiha Itachi." he introduced, nodding to the bed-ridden blond. Naruto nodded slightly, blushing when his heart rate monitor sped up slightly. There was a subtle growl from Sasuke at that reaction, but nobody apart from Gaara really noticed, which earned Sasuke a slight side-glare. The man with grey hair the approached and ruffled the blond locks in an affectionate way.

"Hey there Naruto, I'm Hatake Kakashi- a friend of Iruka's," Kakashi greeted in a much friendlier manner, which had Naruto relieved. Iruka knew this man, so he should have been trustworthy. Naruto just nodded once again with another small smile to the man, who grinned in return- at least Naruto assumed so, seeing as his mouth is covered by a mask. Sasuke rolled his eyes, knowing that Kakashi was always good with earning trust. He was one of the world's laziest people, but if you messed with him, you'd see a whole different side; and seeing as something had decided to mess with his friend's adopted son, he wasn't going to stand by and let it wreak havoc.

"So, Naruto- Sasuke entered your subconscious earlier-"

"What's he going on about?" Suigetsu muttered to Karin, who shrugged in return. Kiba just hit them lightly with his crutch, nodding his head in the direction of Kakashi who was going to explain why Naruto had freaked out earlier.

"As I was saying; Sasuke entered your subconscious earlier- and from what he described, it was like a sewer, am I correct?" Kakashi asked the blond, who numbly nodded, wondering where Kakashi was going with this. Kakashi nodded in reply.

"Well, it seems that you have something very _interesting_ in your mind," Kakashi elaborated, pausing.

"Please, no pauses for dramatic effect!" Kiba complained, earning a harsh jab in the ribs from Gaara, who was still intently watching Kakashi explain.

"You seem to have something locked within you; whether it can physically manifest itself is a different matter- although Iruka and Sasuke-kun have both told me that strange phenomena have been occurring at your place of residence," Kakashi continued, and Naruto's eyes turned steely at what Kakashi was implying.

"I'm sorry Kakashi-san, but it sounds as though you're accusing me of being haunted," Naruto growled, earning a sheepish grin from the grey-haired man himself whilst he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, from what Sasuke-"

"I don't give two shits what Sasuke saw! It's my own mind; my own body! I know what's going on! There're no such things as ghosts, dammit!" Naruto yelled before falling into a fit of coughs. Iruka was there in an instant, giving a knowing look to Kakashi whilst Karin and Suigetsu had been shocked to silence. The rest of them were calm, already knowing the usual reaction that would come from- in Kiba's case, Naruto- a non-believer. As Iruka gently rubbed his back, Naruto coughed into his hand, ignoring the red stain that came from it. He glared in Sasuke's direction hatefully, and Sasuke felt his own eyes widen in response.

"I don't know what drug you gave me, but I swear to God, I'll hit you if you so much as come near me!" he hissed venomously, making the youngest Uchiha step back. Itachi cleared his throat, and Naruto snapped his head towards the older sibling. An impassive onyx locked with a furious, icy blue and one could see the electricity bolts firing between them. The blond felt a snarl start at the edge of his mouth, but before he could do anything, he felt an immense heat rush throughout him, leaving him lying back on the bed, panting and drained of energy.

"Dammit… wh-what did you do t-to me?" Naruto tried to growl, feeling himself grown hotter with each moment. His whole body felt as though it was being delved into flames, and his head felt as though it would split in two. Briefly, he heard Kakashi telling the others to exit the room. The blond wanted to whimper, not liking being left alone in a room with someone he barely knew.

"Naruto, look at me," Kakashi told the boy gently. With what seemed like a gargantuan amount of effort, Naruto turned his head to look into Kakashi's steely grey eye, then unnerved when he saw that the other was blood red with strange black markings.

"Y-your… eyes!" he breathed out, feeling more and more drained by the second. Kakashi chuckled slightly.

"You should see your own; they're much more impressive than mine," Kakashi commented, confusing Naruto even more. The anger seemed to be ebbing away, and with it the intense heat; the exhaustion remained, however. Naruto drooped his eyelids at the feeling and Kakashi placed a cool hand to his head, which felt like paradise during the heatwave that was his body.

"Wh-what's with my eyes?" he managed through his hazed state. Kakashi chuckled, still running his hands soothingly through the blond locks, cooling the teen down.

"What're y' doin'?" he mumbled, on the brink of unconsciousness, slurring his words. Kakashi's eyes just remained on his own, a small smile playing within their depths. It felt to the blond as though he were coming down from a rapid fever- he felt sluggish and insanely relieved to be feeling cool. Kakashi just continued in his ministrations, and Naruto didn't notice when Sasuke and Iruka had slipped back into the room to see the teen being calmed down as though they grey-haired man were his long-lost mother. Where he was so tired though, Naruto didn't notice the pulsing blue light coming from Kakashi's hands as they ran through his hair. Sasuke noticed the dazed look in the azure eyes and they clashed for the briefest of moments, the blue looking vulnerable scared but a few soothing noises from the grey-haired man calmed him considerably, and Naruto turned back to Kakashi, leaving Sasuke standing there feeling as though his head had been stuffed with cotton wool and his chest having been hit by a hammer of the Gods.

"Is he gunna be okay?" Iruka muttered to Sasuke, who just nodded, still feeling star-struck and week-kneed as Naruto drifted off to sleep. Kakashi noticed the smile on Sasuke's face and the slightly dazed look overtaking his features. He smirked in return, looking to Iruka, who was also looking at the raven as he gazed at the blond who slept peacefully for the first time in a while.

"What did you do?" Iruka asked quietly, not wanting to snap Sasuke out of his stupor, even though the raven had approached the blond and was sitting at his side like a loyal guard dog. Kakashi folded his arms across his chest and watched his adopted son fondly whilst keeping an eye on Iruka also.

"I used my chakra to expel any negative thoughts and energies. There was quite a bit, to be honest. He's sleeping it off at the moment- he should wake up at some point tomorrow," Kakashi relayed to the brunet, who seemed insanely relieved by this piece of news.

"I also need to ask you a favour," Iruka told the silver-haired man, who turned to him with a knowing look in his eyes.

"Ask away, dear friend. Ask away."

* * *

**~Possessed~  
VIII**

* * *

When Naruto awoke for the second time, he felt a serene sense of calm wash over his body, and a feeling of content and happiness that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Finally awake?" a deep voice asked, and Naruto turned his head to the side to meet with onyx. At that moment, the blond felt too content to be annoyed or angry at the raven, so he just smiled in return. Sasuke was slightly shocked at this but smiled gently in return- something that he didn't do that much.

"When am I getting out of here?" Naruto croaked, his throat practically begging for water. Sasuke smirked and handed the blond a bottle of water from out of his bag, which Naruto then accepted gratefully and downed as much as he could. Sasuke sat there with an amused smirk on his face once Naruto had drained every ounce of water that he could.

"You should be getting out of here in two days," Sasuke told Naruto, who groaned in return- not liking hospitals at all.

"Two days? But I've been out for about a month- I'm sure I've healed!" Naruto explained, his throat feeling better, but his voice still scratchy and muffled from sleep. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and sat back on the visitor's chair, folding his arms across his chest.

"The doctors need to monitor you for a bit, and then you should be fine," Sasuke reiterated, earning a frustrated sigh from Naruto, and he glanced at the blond in time to see him pouting and folding his arms across his chest. It was an innocent and childish gesture that had the raven's heart beating double time before his stomach was ambushed by butterflies. Before he knew it, Sasuke was quietly chuckling at Naruto's innocent antics, which just made the blond pout even more and shift his gaze to the raven, a light blush painting his cheeks when he saw how… handsome the raven looked whilst laughing. A light chuckle then fell from his voice box, and pretty soon, the two of them were laughing at one another, tears springing to the edges of their eyes. After a while, Naruto took a deep breath, cheeks flushed pink from the lack of oxygen, which made Sasuke snort, which then sent them into another fit of laughter. It was at least ten minutes before they had started to calm down, in which time the nurse had been standing by the doors, waiting with charts and impatiently tapping her feet. At long last, Naruto wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, Sasuke had calmed down to a light smirk, and the nurse stepped in, fully prepared for a fight.

"Good afternoon, Uzumaki-kun; how are you feeling?" the nurse with long, red hair asked, leaning on one side, the clipboard hanging loosely in her manicured hands. Naruto smiled at her and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I'm actually feeling really great. Can I go now?" the blond asked, tilting his head to the side and staring deep into the dusty blue pair of eyes that were currently regarding him with scrutiny. The hand that held the clipboard squeezed slightly before a forced smile was taken over the face of the woman.

"I'd love to clear you, Uzumaki-kun; however, hospital policies say I must monitor you for a further few days. Contrary to this, however, you seem to be healing at an incredibly fast rate- all of your muscle tissue seems to be fine, your stats are healthy and your fractured bones look as though you broke them months ago, so the service should be reduced to one day," she told the blond, who still groaned at the fact he had to spend time in a hospital- much less a night when he didn't have any sleeping pills- it was a given that his night would be filled with the reoccurring night-terrors.

"Your guardian also notified us that you've been on sleep medication, so we will provide that to you for the evening," the nurse added as an after note. Sasuke's eyes widened and he glanced to the blond in shock. He'd had no idea that Naruto was taking sleeping pills, which could most probably explain his erratic behaviour. It was clear that Naruto was embarrassed with the fact this nurse had just stated his medication in front of Sasuke, and the woman seemed to catch on by the awkward silence. She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and chuckled.

"Did your boyfriend not know you were on sleeping tablets?" she asked, which earned an indignant splutter from Naruto and a snort from Sasuke.

"He's not my boyfriend," they both stated in different manners. Sasuke calmly announced it whilst Naruto spluttered and shrieked, turning an interesting shade of red. The nurse blanched and then grinned before winking.

"Oh! So it's a secret. Okay, I've gotcha!" Naruto covered his flushing face with his hands, whilst Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the nurse's antics.

"Thanks for the help, Doc, but is there anything else on his charts?" Sasuke asked, leading the redheaded woman away from the topic of his and Naruto's relationship. She just looked to him with a strange frown and clasped her hands tighter around the clipboard.

"Actually, yes," she continued in a serious enough tone that Naruto had the decency to peek at her through his fingers, although he was still covering his mortified face.

"You may just find me superstitious with this part, y'know, but I think that something strange is going on. All I can feel is a bad cloud of energy, y'know? Naruto-kun, I want you to wear this!" she declared, thrusting a clenched fist forward under the blond's tan nose. Gently, Naruto took his hands away from his face and blinked gently.

"Excuse me?" he asked softly, and the woman sighed harshly.

"Look, I've been told that you're not superstitious, but it would really ease my worries if you would wear this, y'know?" she told Naruto, who looked to a confused Sasuke before nodding and opening his palm, only for a blue crystal pendant on a leather strip fall into it.

"It was my husband's aunt's necklace- she said it always brought her peace, y'know!" the redhead smiled, and Naruto couldn't help but smile a little in return.

"Why would you give this to someone you don't even know?" Naruto whispered gently, seeming to forget about the raven's presence, instead basking in the warm and familiar glow this nurse gave off. She just smiled and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Well, y'know, I lost my kid at a young age, and you really remind me of him. He'd be your age at the moment, and I just wanna help. You seem troubled and like you need some help, so I think my judgement isn't misplaced, y'know," she rambled, earning a shocked look from both men in the room at the mention of a lost son.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Naruto mumbled, the action being reiterated by Sasuke shortly afterwards. The redhead just waved her hand as if to say it was nothing and smiled.

"Don't worry about it; I know _you_ may be a sceptic, Naruto, but I believe he's in a better place now," she smiled, before exiting the room with a shocked and bewildered Naruto and Sasuke still sitting down. It took a while before either of them snapped out of their reverie, and when the blond did, it was to stare down at the pendant in his hand. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't think from where. Sasuke just sighed and took it from the tan hands, despite the blond's complaints. He just rolled his eyes and smacked the blond upside the head with his free hand.

"Chill, dobe- I'm putting it on for you," he mumbled, which in turn made the blond flush and sit there silently, apart from the occasional mumble.

"Teme, I'm not a chick," Naruto would grumble slightly whilst Sasuke made Naruto turn slightly so he could apply the pendant and fasten the catch. After that had been done, the blue crystal dropped onto the tanned chest and Naruto felt an immense sense of calm wash over his body.

"Wow, it actually feels pretty nice," he smiled, earning a small smile from Sasuke in return.

"Of course it does dobe; it's a blessed necklace after all," Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blond's confused face, just poking him in between the eyes like Itachi always did to him. Scowling, Naruto rubbed the spot that had been poked before going back to question Sasuke.

"Bastard! What do you mean by blessed?" he asked the raven, who sighed and folded his arms across his chest.

"I can feel the spiritual energy, and I can safely say that this has been blessed by a Shinto Priest by the name of 'Dan'." Sasuke explained, making Naruto blink in return once more; and Sasuke sighed, just placing his palm to his forehead.

"Don't worry about it dobe; just know that you shouldn't take it off, okay?" Sasuke explained slowly, as though he were talking to a four year old. Once more, Naruto pouted, which created a much-needed source of entertainment for Sasuke whilst he was sitting in the hospital room, unaware of the fact that Iruka was standing outside and observing the scene with a slight smile, Kakashi beside him. The brunet just gazed at his adopted son fondly, watching as his shoulders seemed not as tense as before. Kakashi patted Iruka on the shoulder, drawing his attention away from the two boys who were just quietly talking, and sometimes insulting the other.

"So, about this favour you wanted to ask me about?" Kakashi prompted, and Iruka nodded, placing his hand to his cheek and gazing into the hospital room once more.

"I'm guessing it concerns Naruto?" Kakashi edged once more, trying to get Iruka to speak up. There was a loud and aggravated sigh from the brunet as he turned to Kakashi, distress clear in his eyes.

"This is about all the negative energy and what happened last night, isn't it?" Kakashi stated, and Iruka nodded, finally alerting Kakashi to what was going on. The silver-haired man sighed roughly and looked directly into Iruka's eyes.

"Iruka, I have a feeling that Naruto may be hosting a poltergeist, and that it's taken residence in your house and following him around. The elevator was no accident- it was a full-out attack; so he must have some pretty bad energies for this to be happening," Kakashi explained to Iruka, who just paled at the thought that his house may be haunted- and from his adopted son no less.

"Sasuke's told me how you asked him to perform a cleansing ritual, and I've cleared most negative thoughts and expressions from Naruto's mind, so things should be calm enough for a while so that we can perform the cleansing ritual. This will minimise the activity to near-zero. Of course there will still be a little amount; but not vicious. It'll mainly be small items moving about, but that's it." Kakashi explained to a relieved Iruka, who hugged him around the middle, making Kakashi blush slightly and pat him on top of the head.

"Now, now Iruka; whatever happened to our professional relationship?" Kakashi smirked, earning a light hit on his upper arm from the tanned brunet.

"Shut it, Hatake; I'm happy!" Iruka scolded the older man, who just snorted in return and allowed the younger man to hug him in gratitude.

"We'll also need to get Naruto into therapy; the amount of bad energy in his mind was so large that it was overwhelming. I know he's had a harsh past, but there shouldn't be so much for it," Kakashi relayed as Iruka broke away, nodding slightly.

"I'll get a therapist as soon as I-"

"No. I'm sorry Iruka, but I'd like to issue Naruto's therapy," Kakashi told the brunet, who frowned in return.

"Why can't I choose the therapist?" Iruka asked, already knowing whom he'd call at such a time. Kakashi sighed harshly once more and closed his eyes briefly.

"The man I know is extremely efficient and has handled cases like Naruto's before; he handled Itachi's and Sasuke's." Kakashi explained, and Iruka had no choice but to sigh and agree.

"Fine- but if I find out that this person is being harsh to Naruto, I'll castrate you!" Iruka warned, shoving his finger into Kakashi's chest, making the man wince and lean back from the Iruka's wrath. He raised his hands in surrender, feeling the fierce intent rolling from the brunet as he promised Kakashi of all the tortures he'd have to endure if Naruto came back upset.

"Rest assured, Iruka, Naruto will be fine after his therapy. Everything will quieten down," Kakashi reassured once more, and Iruka huffed out a breath through his nose.

"This is my son we're talking about, Kakashi. He may not be directly related to me, but I will crush anything that threatens to harm him!" he vowed in a deadly whisper that had Kakashi paling slightly with the determination of his promise.

Inside the hospital room, Naruto had been conversing with raven- albeit with many insults and derogatory terms thrown in- but had to admit, he was starting to like Sasuke. He was challenging, stubborn and cynic- his exact opposite; but it was worth it when he managed to crack the exterior shell and managed to get Sasuke to smile or chuckle. Naruto found Sasuke increasingly beautiful in those moments. And although he'd never say it out loud, Sasuke also found himself enjoying just spending time with the blond- sure he made some dim-witted comments that Sasuke just couldn't help but tease him about, but it was Naruto's fault for being obnoxious and oblivious in those moments. At that moment, Naruto was trying to calm down from a hilarious tale that he'd told to Sasuke about the time where they'd prank-called someone with the Liam Neeson speech from 'Taken'. Being the stoic person he was, Sasuke just let slip a few chuckles, despite it sounding hilarious. Naruto had eventually calmed down and took a deep breath before looking at the raven who was smirking slightly. The blinding smile never left Naruto's face as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around a surprised Sasuke for a sneak hug.

"Thanks for being here when I woke up," he mumbled politely, and Sasuke felt a small smile tug on his lips in that moment.

"Hn. No problem, dobe."

* * *

**~Possessed~  
IX**

* * *

To say that Naruto was glad when he got out of hospital would be an understatement. The moment he had left the building, he fell dramatically to his knees yelling 'OH SWEET, NORMAL LAND! HOW I'VE MISSED YOU SO!' much to the embarrassment of Iruka and Kakashi who were accompanying him home. Iruka had also explained to Naruto that he'd be seeing a therapist, much to the blond's detest. It wasn't that he thought he didn't need one, he just preferred not letting his problems weigh on other people's shoulders. He was a selfless person like that. If something were bothering him, he'd keep it cooped up and not tell anyone. Naruto never liked it when people were worried about him. Nevertheless, as he entered Iruka's car, he grumbled about not being able to ride shotgun due to Kakashi's appearance. The remark had earned him a light chuckle from the grey-haired man, which further set him in a bad mood.

"Iruka, why does Kakashi need to be with us?" Naruto pouted, earning a sigh from his guardian.

"I've told you this before, Naruto- even though you may be a sceptic, I'm getting Kakashi to cleanse the house because I don't know about you, but I don't like it when strange things happen," Iruka sternly told Naruto, who growled in the background and glared out of the car window. However, he couldn't help but feel some truth towards Iruka's words. Also, if it would make Iruka happy, then he would willingly do it for him. The blue crystal that hung around his neck bounced on his chest as they hit a pothole, and Kakashi's eye was drawn to it through the rear-view mirror.

"Hey, Naruto- where'd you get that pendant from?" Kakashi asked innocently, noticing how Naruto seemed to perk up at the mention of the artefact.

"Oh! A nurse gave it to me; she seemed more superstitious than Iruka and said that it would give her peace of mind if I wore it," the blond relayed, earning a nod in return from Kakashi and a frown from Iruka as they stopped at a red light.

"Why would she give it to you?" Iruka asked, confused. Naruto shrugged in reply, but continued giving extra facts.

"She said that she felt a heavy presence and that I reminded her of her deceased son enough to want to help me," Naruto explained, to which Kakashi snorted at, and Naruto caught on.

"Well, she didn't say those _exact_ words, but that was the message that got through to me," Naruto elaborated, and Iruka nodded in reply this time, starting to move once the light had gone green. As he turned left, a car came shooting out of nowhere, and the brunet had to apply the brakes quickly, shouting profanities at the driver that had caused him to do so. Naruto just rolled his eyes at his guardian's road-rage whereas Kakashi- who'd never seen Iruka lose his temper before- leant back in his chair, visible eye wide as he silently witnessed the brunet cuss and damn the driver to hell and back. Naruto chuckled silently at Kakashi's expression as they drove back down the road to their home. As he exited the car, Naruto once again felt a feeling of dread wash over him. He loved his home, but for some reason, lately it had been feeling as though he shouldn't be entering the house. He knew he was being silly, but the heavy air that suffocated the whole house seemed to make him hesitant to return. Kakashi seemed to notice his hesitance as he came to stand beside the blond and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto-kun; I'm here, and you have the pendant. You should be fine." Kakashi comforted, muttering lowly into the blond's ear so that only he could hear the words of comfort. Naruto scoffed slightly, masking his fear.

"There're no such things as ghosts," he reiterated once more. Kakashi nodded gravely and clapped a hand on the blond's shoulder as he advanced to the house.

"Then there should be nothing stopping you from entering your home," Kakashi preached to the blond, who stayed frozen to the spot as the two adults advanced to the front door. Naruto swallowed as he gazed up at his house and stepped back slightly, still not wanting to enter the house. He had a feeling that should he enter, he'd never be allowed out; he'd be trapped forever. He just shook his head and looked towards the adults who were staring at him, confusion painted on their faces.

"I-I'm just gunna go for a walk and clear my head; I mean, I've been asleep for ages!" he lied in a loud and cheerful voice, waving to them as he turned on the spot and started to walk away, panic evident in his eyes. The pendant bounced as he walked, the cool air on him not making him realise how it was scorching hot.

As the minutes went by, Naruto found himself sat on a swing in the local park, just pushing it backwards and forwards gently with his legs. He looked up as the sun was setting, seeing a mother and her child holding hands and exiting the park. The small boy was complaining about not wanting to go; but the mother just promised him pizza for tea, which made the boy jump for joy and gladly follow her. Naruto smiled at the scene, despite the panging in his heart. How he wished for just one more moment like that with his mother, but he knew he couldn't. The smile remained on his face as he leant against the chain of the swing and closed his eyes, a single tear slipping down his scarred cheeks and landing on the back of his hand. In the still air of dusk, Naruto just rested and listened to the sounds around him, feeling content with the world. His hands were gripping his jeans tightly, creasing the material, as more tears just fell and darkened the fabric beneath them. His smile turned bittersweet in that moment as he relished in the feeling of the good memories; his mother smiling at him as he played the role of a shepherd in a Christmas nativity- of course the two had ended up waving to each other, and the woman had caught it all on camera. Then there were the memories of being tucked into bed and being read a bedtime story, usually one that was made up and filled with ninjas. However, the most painful one was when Kushina had looked at Naruto from across the dining room table with a small smile and whispered that she'd loved him; it was only a few hours before she had died.

'_I love you, baby. You're always gunna be Mama's little angel,'_

At that thought, the blue eyes had snapped open. For a moment, he could've sworn that he had actually heard his mother whispering those words into his ear, and that they weren't just an illusion. The air around him had grown cold, and Naruto shivered, pulling his jacket closer to his body, only just realising that it was quite dark.

"Damn," he sniffed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his sleeves, looking up to try and stop any more tears from falling. It was with a gargantuan shock that he saw Itachi standing over him. The blond let out a scream and scrambled backwards; of course, as he was still sitting on a swing, it didn't turn out too well, and he landed painfully on the floor. Naruto groaned and rubbed his lower back, glaring up at Itachi.

"Good evening, Naruto-kun," Itachi stated, earning a nod in reply from Naruto as he gazed up at the older man.

"Good evening Itachi-senpai. Is there a reason you decided to give me a heart attack?" Naruto asked, scowling and standing up, still rubbing his lower back. Itachi smirked slightly, but it disappeared and he folded his arms across his chest.

"Your guardian is getting worried about you. You should be getting home," Itachi told the blond, who frowned at Itachi.

"Why did you have to deliver the news?" Naruto asked sceptically, stepping backwards without realising it. Itachi scoffed and turned around, motioning for Naruto to follow, which he did unwillingly.

"You left without your phone and didn't tell anyone where you were going, so I decided to find you myself," Itachi elaborated, smiling slightly as Naruto jogged up beside him, staring at him questioning in his eyes.

"But how did _you_ manage to find me?" he quizzed, and Itachi chuckled at Naruto's ignorance, just settling for ruffling his hair into a mess, to which Naruto protested against as he tried to sort his hair back into its normal way, which wasn't really all that much better from what Itachi had done.

"Y'know, Naruto, it _is_ okay to miss your parents," Itachi muttered, making the blond stop walking as they rounded the corner onto his street.

"What do you mean?" the blond asked, wrapping his arms around himself as he stared at the taller man, whose eyes seemed to hold a tint of sadness. Nevertheless, he patted the blond on the head before walking towards the house that was most likely to contain a worried Iruka that was fretting over a cup of tea. Sure enough, when the blond stepped through the front door, he was almost tackled to the ground by the brunet.

"Naruto! Where did you go?" his guardian rambled, asking frequent questions. Naruto just chuckled lightly and hugged Iruka back.

"I just went to the park to clear my head. I'm sorry I made you worry," Naruto apologized, and Iruka pulled away, shocked to see that Naruto had been crying.

"Are you alright?" he worried. Naruto just nodded silently before making his way into the kitchen and looking out of the window and into the back garden. The house felt lighter, and his head felt clearer; the vibe around the area was so good that Naruto couldn't help but smile. Swiftly, he made himself a cup of coffee, dumping an insane amount of sugar in the cup at the same time. Iruka walked up into the doorframe and leant against it, folding his arms across his chest.

"Can you feel the change?" he asked Naruto, who nodded happily, moving his sleeve to once again wipe at his eyes.

"Thanks for everything Iruka," Naruto thanked, picking up his coffee and hugging his guardian with one arm before making his way up the stairs to his bedroom. He placed the coffee cup on his bedside table before stripping out of his clothes and pulling on his pyjamas, thankful that he didn't have college the next day. As he turned on his lamp, and then shut off the main light, he climbed into bed and lay down, revelling in the comfort it brought. The house felt more like a home, and for the first time in a few months, Naruto finally slept, his rest filled with nothing but pleasant memories of the past.

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**~Possessed~  
Chapter Three: End**

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**Once again, you have my sincerest apologies that this is late! So much shit was going on at home that I couldn't write, so I kept on putting off. The next chapter will hopefully be out before Christmas for you guys, but if not, I promise not to make you wait any longer than New Year! **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and leave a review with your thoughts :)**

**~Out for now!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Possessed**

**xCastielsGirlx**

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**Author's Note:** Hey guys! It's been a while, huh? ^^; I really did mean to have this finished by the New Year, but too much hectic shit came up and I found myself not being able to write, so I'm eternally sorry- will you kill me if I say I may only be able to update twice a month? ^^;

Anyways, if you're still reading this, you have my sincerest thanks and eternal gratitude ^_^

**Warnings:** SasuNaru hints (it's getting there), swearing, supernatural horror, violence and bad Sai (I hate making him so evil, because I love him in the manga- him with all his penises XD)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any 'Naruto' characters- they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Any 'legends' or 'science' that I speak of, are most likely a huge pile of BS, so please do not believe them at your own risk.

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**This is a work of Fiction. Any names, places or an event linking to the real world is purely coincidental.**

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**4.**

A heavy rock tone rang throughout the Uchiha household, and Sasuke groaned as he was roused from his sweet dreams (which may or may not have involved a blue-eyed blond) to answer it.

"N'yello?" he asked sleepily, not getting any answer. He took the phone away from his ear and glanced at the screen with a confused face. The caller ID showed that it was indeed Naruto calling him, but he hadn't said anything.

"Hello?" he asked again, this time, just hearing a shuffling on the other end of the line. Just as he was about to hang up, a voice sounded through the speaker.

"Hi," it said shyly, and Sasuke blinked, pulling the phone back to his ear. He rolled his eyes, even though the blond couldn't see and shifted so that he was leaning against his headboard, knees drawn up, blankets strewn all over his body.

"What do you need, dobe?" Sasuke asked, sighing into the phone. There was a tense silence on the other end, and Sasuke briefly considered hanging up before Naruto spoke again.

"Uh, well… d'ya wanna come over?" he asked hurriedly so that Sasuke almost didn't catch what he was saying. The raven frowned at the question and checked his clock, internally groaning when it was only nine in the morning.

"It's a bit early, isn't it?" Sasuke commented, already slouching back against the headboard and rubbing a hand over his face. There was yet another silence on the other end of the phone, and Sasuke took it that the blond had thought he'd been rejected. Not wanting to get rid of this one chance to get to know Naruto better, Sasuke quickly mended the assumptions.

"What did you have in mind, dobe?" Sasuke asked, smirking slightly when Naruto huffed at being called a dobe.

"Teme, how about we meet at my place, then go to Konoha Park and get some coffee?" he asked nervously, not wanting to be shot down. Sasuke's eyes widened. A walk in the park and then coffee. To him it sounded like a…

"Are you asking me on a date?" Sasuke quizzed, frowning at the phone. By the stuttering on the other end, Sasuke could easily assume that he'd guessed correct. He rolled his eyes, then going to stare aimlessly at the end of his bed, checking himself out in the mirror that was floor length and covered his wardrobe's sliding doors.

"NO! I'm merely asking you out to coffee to say thanks!" Naruto defended himself in a loud voice, which had Sasuke pulling the phone away from his ear and frowning in an unappreciative way. He then rubbed at his ear and gazed dispassionately at the phone.

"Dobe, there was no need to yell," Sasuke muttered, then earning a nervous- almost sheepish and embarrassed- laugh.

"Sorry. But would you?"

"Would I what?" Sasuke asked in reply, having become lost in the sound of the blond's laughter, gazing into space.

"Like to go to coffee!" Naruto explained in an exasperated voice, to which Sasuke chuckled.

"Dobe. I'll meet you at yours in a couple of hours- I've only just woke up," On the other end of the line, Naruto stuttered an apology at having woke the Uchiha up- the apology then turned into a rant, what with the blond saying that Sasuke should be up, considering that it was coming up to midday. Sasuke had just snorted at this and told Naruto that he'd had a busy night- which then of course caused accusations and jokes to fly about why Sasuke's night had been so 'busy'. As the raven moved around the room, grabbing his clothes with the phone on speaker so he could still hear Naruto and yell to talk to him at the same time, he realised just what Naruto had done by calling him so early. He'd opened up slightly, and he certainly sounded more cheerful. By this time, Sasuke had managed to fully dress himself in a tight-fitting T-shirt and pair of black skinny jeans.

"Dobe, I'm dressed now- I should see you in about half an hour," Sasuke told Naruto, who stopped in his scolding and explanations.

"Y-you were talking to me whilst getting dressed?" he stuttered, and Sasuke could tell from his voice that he was blushing heavily. At that moment, Sasuke smirked slightly, checking himself out in the mirror.

"I'm also checking myself out. Why- does it bother you?" Sasuke asked, grabbing his phone and moving over to his en-suite bathroom and placing his phone on the windowsill.

"I was just surprised is all," Naruto replied, his voice echoing around in the empty bathroom. Sasuke smirked, pulling out his toothpaste and toothbrush from the overhead cupboard and running the tap before applying the toothpaste, once more running some water over that before putting the cleansing utensil into his mouth.

"Why are you surprised?" Sasuke asked, his statement coming out extremely muffled and garbled due to the toothpaste and toothbrush occupying his mouth.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Naruto asked, wanting clarification. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and spat out the toothpaste that was in his mouth before repeating what he had said.

"I said 'why are you surprised'?" Sasuke repeated, placing the toothbrush back into his mouth and scrubbing away at his teeth. There was a slight shuffle on the other end and Sasuke raised one eyebrow at the phone, pausing in his scrubbing to do so, but then went back to cleaning his teeth.

"I just didn't realise you'd speak to me whilst getting dressed. Most people would hang up," Naruto muttered, obviously confused. Sasuke snorted, only realising how much of a mistake that was when he started choking on the toothpaste. He hastily spat out into the sink and downed a cup of water, gurgling and then spitting again.

"Dobe, we were having a serious conversation- why would I hang up?" Sasuke asked, wiping his mouth on a towel and then winking to himself in the mirror. Naruto chuckled at that statement slightly and Sasuke mused to himself just what the blond was doing at that moment.

"Teme, all I was doing was scolding you on getting you up late!" Naruto persisted, and Sasuke replied all too seriously.

"Well, I need someone to get my arse up in the mornings! Kakashi wouldn't do it at risk of me killing him via pillow projection," to which then Naruto started creasing up over the phone, clutching his sides and bending over.

"What the hell? Pillow projection?" he quoted, inhaling sharply so that it sounded a bit like a donkey's cry. This made Sasuke snort and he just folded his arms across his chest and took his phone from the bathroom windowsill back into his room and onto his bed whilst he grabbed his trainers.

"I can be very dangerous," Sasuke reasoned, to which Naruto snorted at, being in danger of now suffocating seeing as he'd been laughing so much.

"What- are you an assassin or something?" Naruto joked, and Sasuke thought a bit before replying.

"If I told you that, Uzumaki-san, I'm afraid I'd have to kill you," he impersonated, which further set the blond into peals of hysterics.

"Stop! Stop!" he gasped, obviously not being able to take so much humour from the person he now considered a friend. Sasuke just rolled his eyes, grabbing his scarf and coat before applying them and grabbing his phone, taking it off speaker and pressing it to his ear.

"I'm on my way, dobe," Sasuke told the blond, who blinked on the other end.

"Do you want me to hang up then?" the blond asked, fiddling with the bedsheets that he was sat on. Sasuke just scoffed and closed his front door, making his way down the road.

"That's okay- I can walk and talk," he stated, which made Naruto smile slightly, before a grin broke out onto his face.

"Cover girl- put your face in that walk!" he stated, which made Sasuke's face contort into a confused frown.

"What the hell?" he asked, completely confused as to what the blond was going on about.

"I have no idea!" Naruto wheezed, obviously finding himself hilarious at the joke he'd come up with. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and shivered slightly at the cold weather. Inwardly, he wondered if Naruto really did want to go on this walk.

"Dobe, it's quite cold out- do you want to stay at the coffee shop instead of going for a walk?" Sasuke quizzed as he turned a corner, almost walking into someone as he did so. Naruto hummed on the other end of the phone and fiddled with the bottom of his sweater.

"Well, I guess we could," Naruto muttered, sounding a bit put out. Sasuke noticed the tone of voice and just sighed.

"Dobe, if you wanna go to the park then we can- I was just concerned about the temperature," Sasuke told the blond, who brightened at the idea. Sasuke just rolled his eyes when he heard Naruto exclaim excitedly.

"So I'll see you in a bit then?" Naruto asked, going to hang up, and Sasuke replied with his trademark 'Hn' before also hanging up. Sasuke smiled slightly at his closed phone before slipping into his jacket pocket, leaving his hands there as not to keep them cold. As he walked down the familiar and somewhat busy streets, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how he'd become so attached to the blond over the past month. Sure, they'd had _some_ nice conversations, but Naruto was prone to mood swings, which would more than often result in them breaking into an insult war.

'_Just what is it that pulls me towards you?_' Sasuke quizzed himself, tilting his head backwards to see angry purple clouds gathering in the sky. The raven shook his head at the observation, knowing that his and Naruto's walk in the park would have to be cut out of their meeting. So deep in his thoughts, Sasuke didn't realise that he was about to walk straight into another person. It was only when he bumped into them, causing them to fall to the floor that he realised what he'd done.

"I'm sorry, sir- are you okay?" Sasuke asked the man- he looked to be about nineteen with pale skin and midnight black hair- he almost looked like Sasuke. The teen smiled and brushed himself off, accepting the other's outstretched hand.

"It's okay- I'm guessing you were in a hurry. Either that or distracted," he replied, the smile not leaving his face. Sasuke nodded slightly before going to leave when a hand caught his wrist. He looked back to see it was the teen he'd bumped into.

"You dropped your phone," he told Sasuke, whose eyes widened at the fact he'd almost lost one of his most essential items.

"Thanks," Sasuke mumbled, walking off in the direction of the blond's house. At that moment, the first drops of freezing rain hit his face, and he looked up to see the darkened sky only to wince as a drop hit him in the eye. Sasuke shivered and drew his jacket around himself more tightly before heading off at a quicker pace.

By the time he had arrived at the blond's house, Sasuke was soaking wet and freezing to the bone. With convulsing shivers, he knocked three times on the wooden door, waiting only seven seconds before it was opened. As blond pulled the door ajar, his eyes widened as he took in Sasuke's soaked, shivering form and quickly pulled the raven in.

"Teme! Why didn't you bring a waterproof jacket? Here, let me get you a towel!" Naruto worriedly exclaimed as he dashed up the stairs and grabbed the fluffy towel from the self-warming towel rack. Sasuke just blinked some of the freezing water from his eyes and convulsed slightly before Naruto returned, throwing the towel over the nearby banister and stripping the raven of his drenched jacket. An almost non-existent blush crossed the pale cheeks as Naruto then pulled the shirt up that was stuck to Sasuke's chest.

"Take your shoes and trousers off whilst I run the bath and find you some underwear, okay?" Naruto told Sasuke, who just remained still as he watched the blond's retreating form disappear up the stairs. Only then did he slip his shoes and socks off, along with his soaked jeans, which took his underwear with them. Slightly embarrassed, Sasuke quickly grabbed the fluffy towel and wrapped it around his waist, surprised at the softness and warmth. It was at that moment when Naruto came thundering down the stairs and grabbed the wet items of clothing from the floor, as well as gently kicking the trainers under the radiator.

"The bath's ready for you and there are some clothes on the bathroom radiator that should fit you for after," the blond smiled and Sasuke felt a gentle smile tug on his lips as he thanked the blond and headed upstairs to the warm, steamy bathroom. With much hesitation, he locked the door behind him before taking the towel from around his waist and dipping his foot into the hot water. He hissed slightly but submerged himself nonetheless, noticing that a flannel, soap and scented shampoos and conditioners had been set out for him, and Sasuke had to smile lightly at how thoughtful the blond was. He let out a content sigh as his body slipped lower in the tub, relaxing his muscles and he reached for the flannel to wet it in the water before lathering it with soap.

In the kitchen, Naruto was shoving Sasuke's wet clothes into the washing machine, emptying the pockets and placing the contents on the side, shivering when he felt a cold chill fall over his body. He grabbed a scoop of washing powder and put it into the machine before turning the device on and folding his arms across his chest. Deciding that just standing there wasn't going to accomplish anything, he decided to switch the kettle on to make them both a hot drink. During his musings, the kettle boiled, snapping the blond from his reveries involving raven-haired men in baths. Without much thought, Naruto poured in the boiling water to two mugs, one with coffee granules whilst the other held hot chocolate powder with an insane amount of sugar and milk. As he stirred the contents together, he shivered once more, just passing it off as the cold weather or the window being open. He jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder and span around to punch the stranger when his fist was caught in a large hand.

"Dobe, why so jumpy?" Sasuke asked, hair towel-dried and fresh clothes on. Naruto sighed in relief at the fact it was just Sasuke and instantly relaxed, a small smile flitting across his face.

"Sorry teme; I made you a coffee, by the way. Just plain and black, right?" Naruto asked, pulling his fist free to hand the raven his mug. A light smile played on Sasuke's lips as he accepted and took a sip before he met sapphire blues with his own onyx.

"It's perfect," he replied, amused by the blush that spread across the blond's cheeks.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
X**

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Suigetsu paced around his apartment living room, several thoughts rushing through his mind- the main one being that of the mysterious phone call he'd received after the blond and his friends had fallen from the elevator. So far, he hadn't told anyone about it, not too sure what to make of it himself. The police knew what had happened, so it wasn't as though he could submit it as evidence and the hospital had discharged the blond so he didn't see any use of them listening to it either. A knock on his door startled him from his musings, and he trudged towards it and looked through the peephole to see that it was his neighbour, Inuzuka Kiba. With a small smile, he pulled the door open to greet the brunet.

"Hey Kiba, what's up?" he asked, allowing the teen to enter his apartment.

"Nothin' much- Naruto was discharged from the hospital yesterday. I'd like to go see him but the weather's shit," Kiba explained, dumping himself onto the sofa and looking out of the window to see that the rain was still hammering down. Suigetsu sighed at the attitude before grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"So what did you need?" Suigetsu asked, prying the cap from the bottle and throwing it into the bin with surprising accuracy. Kiba sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"The police are treating the elevator fall as suspicious- they say the cable holding the lift up was cleanly cut," Kiba told the silver-haired man, who swallowed in return.

"Do they have any suspects?" he asked, moving to sit down next to the brunet on the sofa. Kiba sighed and leant back, throwing his arm over his eyes.

"Not yet, but it just seemed so suspicious that they can't help but put out an investigation," Kiba explained, and Suigetsu bit his bottom lip.

"Kiba, I need to show you something," he told the brunet, who sat up at the hesitant tone.

"Are you okay? You look paler than usual," Kiba noted, and Suigetsu swallowed before going over to his answering machine and pressing play on the one message. Kiba's eyes widened as he heard what was going on and he looked pale towards the end. Shaking he rubbed his hand down his face and looked to his neighbour.

"When did you get this?" he asked shakily, and Suigetsu swallowed nervously.

"About an hour after it happened. I didn't know what to do! I panicked!" he defended as Kiba glared at him. The brunet stood up and clenched his fists.

"You're going to have to give this to the police!" he ordered and Suigetsu nodded, feeling faint. He'd never seen his neighbour so angry before and it was scaring him slightly. Kiba roughly sighed and collapsed back onto the sofa, looking around the room.

"That aside, I need to ask you something," Kiba started, looking suspiciously at Suigetsu, who blinked.

"You knew Uchiha Sasuke from a young age- what's his relationship record like?" Kiba asked bluntly, not bothering to hide his motive. Suigetsu- who had just taken a sip of beer- choked slightly at the question. He then sighed as he caught on to what Kiba was insinuating.

"He hasn't had many stable relationships- mainly one-night stands. Although I would've thought you'd ask that Gaara kid about this- he works with him," Suigetsu told the brunet, who seemed to be thrown in for a loop.

"Gaara works with Uchiha?" Kiba asked, eyebrows rising. Even though the three where a close-knit group of friends, Kiba had never known what line of work Gaara was in. He'd assumed something family related seeing as he never mentioned it much.

"Where do they work?" Kiba asked, wanting to know where the redhead and raven went- mainly so he could warn the Uchiha not to mess with his closest friend. Suigetsu shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied, and Kiba gaped in response. Suigetsu sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time and leant forward.

"Ever since the age of fourteen, Sasuke's had this job that keeps him quite busy. Sometimes his guardian would come into the school and call him out so that he could go to work, and each time, Sasuke would just pack and go with a serious but excited look on his face. I'm judging he worked late nights because there would be times when he would come into school and just fall asleep at his desk," Suigetsu explained and Kiba blinked.

"How the hell did he manage to get into College then?" he wondered, and Suigetsu shrugged with a smug grin on his face.

"Must just be the Uchiha genes- he was born into a very smart family," he replied, smirking at the brunet's longing look. His amethyst eyes then took on a dark look as he recalled a past event.

"However, one day he was called way for work and didn't return to school for a week or so. When he came up he looked exhausted," Suigetsu recalled, and Kiba tensed on the sofa, not knowing what to make of this. So the Uchiha was a slight player, but he worked hard, even abandoning education to do so- but his mind couldn't help but be thrown into turmoil over the mystery of Sasuke's job.

"Y'know, sometimes I think it has something to do with his parents. After all, Sasuke's guardian is an ex-detective and his parents were murdered at a young age," Suigetsu continued, and Kiba paled at that piece of information.

"Should you really be telling me this much? All I really needed to know was if he wasn't a douche when it came to relationships," Kiba strained, chuckling weakly, and Suigetsu mirrored his chuckle.

"I guess I did say too much," he agreed, before turning to the answering machine. Kiba then followed his gaze and sighed.

"I've got a really bad feeling, dude. Ever since June time, Naruto's been acting a bit strange. I mean, he's been jumpy and anxious- not to mention his nightmares have been starting up again- and before the accident, there were these really dark bruises on his wrists," Kiba explained, and Suigetsu hummed in reply.

"I haven't really talked to Naruto in a while, so I wouldn't know how bad things have gotten- but you're obviously close friends- do you have any idea what could've caused such stress?" Suigetsu asked, not wanting his pseudo-cousin to be in any sort of distress.

"Well, his ex-boyfriend's giving him a lot of trouble at the moment- I mean, I've seen some of the texts he's received and they're not pleasant at all," Kiba muttered, and Suigetsu growled.

"You mean Sai? Fucking bastard," Suigetsu hissed, taking another swig of beer, internally planning how he'd make the other boy pay, slowly and painfully. Kiba's eyes narrowed and he glanced suspiciously at Suigetsu.

"What do you know about Sai?" he asked, wanting to know what sort of information they could share and plans they could create together to teach the pale raven a lesson. A sour and dark look flashed over the face of the silver-haired man, and Kiba felt himself shudder at the intensity of the look.

"He's bad news- he's hurt Naruto many times in the past, and if he ever sets foot near him again, I will personally make it so that he never sees the light of day again," Suigetsu growled, emitting a deadly and icy aura that had Kiba recoiling.

"What do you mean by that?" Kiba asked, wanting to know, but not wanting to at the same time- it was a morbid fascination he had. Suigetsu looked Kiba in the eyes and smirked, seeing his inner dilemma, his face contorted into disgust though when he thought about what had happened between the two.

"There were times when Naruto would visit, and he'd have marks on him that weren't caused by passionate loving," Suigetsu started to explain, making Kiba flinch.

"There would also be periods of time when Naruto would disappear, and when Iruka called him, he'd say that he was staying with Sai for the week. When he'd come back from those little 'trips' he'd seem downcast- it was only when he caught him cheating that Naruto had the guts to tell him it was over," Suigetsu spat, and Kiba's eyes had narrowed in rage.

"Sai was in our school the other day- and from the looks of things, he was trying to comfortable with Naruto," Kiba snarled. He'd never known the whole story between the two, just that Sai had cheated on the blond and so they'd broken up.

"What?" Suigetsu hissed venomously, and Kiba shivered at the poison that was dripping from the other's words.

"He was getting comfortable with Naruto- I think he was going to kiss him, but Gaara and I got to him just in time- Gaara even punched the dick," Kiba told Suigetsu, who chuckled darkly.

"He deserves so much more- he should be locked up for what he did to Naru," he muttered, a sadistic smile on his face, and Kiba's stomach dropped a mile, a feeling of dread pouring in to the vacant space.

"Did Sai -" Suigetsu's eyes darkened considerably, and the furious storm outside looked calm compared to the one that was raging in the silver-haired man's eyes.

"What do you think, Kiba?" he asked, his voice as cold as dry ice. Kiba swallowed, his face going pale at the realisation and his body was shaking with suppressed rage.

"I'm guessing you're worried about Sasuke's intentions," Suigetsu observed, and Kiba nodded, still numb with the information he'd received. The older male sighed in resignation, deciding he'd better stick up for his long-time friend.

"Listen, Sasuke's usually one for one-night stands, but the way he's been acting around Naruto isn't like he'd normally act around someone he doesn't want to be with." Kiba's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Suigetsu continued with his explanation, dumbing it down slightly.

"Normally, Sasuke wouldn't wait a month for one of his one-night stand victims to get out of a coma," and Kiba nodded in understanding.

"How did they meet, anyway?" Suigetsu asked, curiosity staining his tone, and Kiba chuckled slightly at the question, remembering the day when Naruto had stormed in, complaining about a bastard.

"He dropped his text book on the way back from Sixth Form and Sasuke returned it to him- funny thing is that Naruto was adamant that Uchiha was a bastard," Kiba relayed, chuckling slightly, and Suigetsu joined in with the small show of merriment.

"Although at one point, Naruto did call him to apologise for being rude to him," Kiba explained, and Suigetsu nodded along with the story, drinking some more beer from his bottle and placing it down on the coffee table.

"How did he get his number?" Suigetsu asked thoughtfully, and Kiba snorted.

"He borrowed Gaara's phone," Kiba gesticulated, and Suigetsu just made a little 'ah' noise in understanding before leaning back to look out the window.

"Shit, it's really coming down out there- what the hell happened to this heat-wave we were supposed to be having?" Suigetsu snapped miserably, knowing he'd have to cancel his picnic plans for the next day that he'd made with Karin. Kiba snorted at that and Suigetsu looked to him.

"What?" he demanded sharply, and Kiba just continued to laugh.

"I swear everyone would follow that Australian weatherman to the end of the earth and back again," he snorted, and Suigetsu just huffed.

"He has an Australian accent; Kiba- Australian accents are hot!" Suigetsu reasoned, and Kiba creased up laughing, ignoring the indignant yells from Suigetsu as he justified his reasons as to why he would forever continue to listen to the weatherman that was so clearly not in the right hemisphere of the planet. It was only when a streak of lightning split the sky that the two of them tensed and looked through the window. Kiba hummed in contemplation at the weather and looked to Suigetsu.

"I'd sure hate to be out in this weather," he commented, earning an approving nod from Suigetsu, who just leant back on the sofa, lazily blinking.

"Anyways, I gotta be going now- I've got a female friend coming over," he informed Suigetsu, winking at his neighbour, who grinned and patted him on the back.

"Good luck man!" he told the other, who just chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Thanks for the info- and remember, you gotta hand that recording to the police!" Kiba reminded him sternly, earning a salute in response from the sofa-bound male.

"Have fun this evening!" he yelled as the front door closed gently. Suigetsu smirked as he looked out of the window and onto the balcony area, noticing how harshly the trees were swaying and how the thunder would rumble every so often after its companion of lightning had made its presence known. Suigetsu then frowned as he realised his bottle of beer was empty and went into his kitchenette, throwing the bottle into the bin before approaching the fridge and opening the door. A contemplative frown overtook his face as he took note of all that he had.

"I really need to go shopping," he muttered, scratching his head as he reached in and grabbed a small bento box that Karin had prepared for him earlier. He pushed the fridge door closed and sighed happily as he grabbed a set of chopsticks from his draw and sat down on the comfortable sofa, pulling his feet up to snuggle down. With one hand, he grabbed the remote and flipped it onto the news channel, being greeted by the weatherman that both he and Naruto listened to like an idol to see him standing there nervously.

"We've got reports that this freak storm will be lasting a few weeks, maybe even developing into a hurricane- looks like we're gunna have to wait for that sunshine folks, as Hurricane Kumaro is on its way!" he announced. Suigetsu blinked at the report and sighed. There went his plans he'd made with Karin, he thought bitterly as he shoved the first mouthful of delicious food into his mouth. Karin was a great cook. He glanced over his shoulder once more to the rain-stained window and smirked smugly.

'_Well_' he thought, '_at least I'm not out there!'_

* * *

**~Possessed~  
XI**

* * *

Kakashi huffed as he grabbed the equipment from the back of the van and hauled it up a broken stone path, complete with many holes.

"This is complete bullshit!" Complained a voice from behind him, and Kakashi couldn't help but agree with the comment as his white shirt became see-through due to the rain.

"As much as I hate working in this weather, it's got to be done so pull you thumb outta your ass and help move this equipment!" Gaara snapped, frustrated due to the cold weather- seriously, the Australian weatherman was going to get a strangling if the redhead ever found where he lived. Behind Gaara, Ino and Sakura were just moving equipment as normal, having grown up used to this sort of weather- plus being in the swim team at their school helped a lot with the fact they were used to being wet.

"C'mon Kisame- it's not that bad; you get to see Itachi all wet!" Sakura giggled, and Kisame made a sort of choking noise whilst being glared at by a raven several meters behind, locking up the van and grabbing the last piece of equipment. Kakashi sighed as he approached the front door- even though the van was parked little more than ten foot away, they were still freezing and wet.

"Why isn't Sasuke-kun here?" Ino pouted, and Shikamaru just muttered a small 'troublesome' before helping Chouji with two large boxes.

"Because Sasuke-kun is busy," Kakashi replied, and Itachi looked to Kakashi with a confused glance, which was returned with a look meaning, "I'll tell you later". As Kakashi unlocked the door for the old place, an immense stench of dust and mould overtook their senses, and the girls cringed whilst the men just had a look of distaste on their features.

"Home, sweet haunted home," Kisame shivered, and dumped the box of gadgets beside where he stood. Kakashi smiled as he surveyed the area before turning to his crew.

"Now, I know you're all wet and cold, but you're going to have to wait a little longer for a warm bath and shower- we need to set up the equipment first, then we'll dry off and get comfortable with our guests," Kakashi explained, earning groans from the rest of the team. Sakura and Ino just shrugged, however, and went to grab the equipment whilst the men grumbled.

"So this place has three floors, an attic and a basement; we need two cameras set up in each room, as well as motion sensors and EVP recorders. We'll have to an EMF sweep of each room as well, then we'll rendezvous here in forty-five minutes- got it?" Kakashi briefed, and everyone nodded before heading off in their respective directions with equipment. Shikamaru and Chouji remained behind, however, setting up all the monitors in the main room, as well as the generators and heaters to warm the place up. Chouji looked to Shikamaru, who seemed a little tense as he eyed the monitors that were one by one, starting up, showing different places in the large house.

"What's eating you, Shika?" Chouji asked the other, who startled slightly. This alarmed the larger boy, as he'd never before seen Shikamaru startle. Shikamaru then sighed, realising that now he had been acting out of the norm, he'd have to explain what was troubling him.

"It's Sasuke; I'm worried about him," Shikamaru stated, and Chouji sighed. They had gone to visit the blond Sasuke was so attracted to whilst he had been in his coma, and ever since then, Shikamaru had seemed a bit edgy. Nothing had really happened on their visit, but the way Shikamaru had been judging the bed-ridden blond was almost as if something was troubling him deeply.

"What is it that's giving you such a hard time?" Chouji then quizzed, taking note of how they were half-way done with setting up the equipment. Shikamaru just frowned as he recalled what it was that he was so intent about musing over.

"I think the Uzumaki kid's dangerous- there was this energy that I could feel when he was asleep, and it wasn't pleasant at all. It was almost demonic," he whispered, and Chouji's eyes widened, before becoming their normal size.

"Shikamaru, you've heard of his past, and of what was going on at his house- it was just a really bad traumatic experience- of course he's going to have some bad energy- once Kakashi's sent him to Jiraiya, everything'll be fine and you'll most probably hear things you don't want to know when on jobs with him," Chouji joked, and Shikamaru sighed before grabbing the walkie-talkies that were on his desk beside them and pressing the button to talk to the crew.

"Kakashi, we've got an out on the second floor, second bathroom on the left- make sure to disable the motion detectors before you enter then turn them back on again when you exit," he drawled, and Kakashi just gave a thumbs up to the nearest camera before heading up to the second floor once again.

"I just get a really bad feeling that something's coming," Shikamaru mumbled, and Chouji sighed, patting his friend on the back.

"You can worry about it later- we've got a ghost to bust at the moment," Chouji explained and Shikamaru nodded turning back to his monitors where all of the cameras were now set up and ready to go.

"Alright, everyone back here now," Shikamaru told them through the walkie-talkies, and there was a brief complaint from Kisame.

"Y'know, with the way you're lording everything over us with your equipment, you may as well be the boss," he quipped before being slapped on the back of the head by Itachi who'd walked past him at that moment.

"Just move your ass," he told the blue-haired man, who maturely stuck his tongue out at the eldest Uchiha as he walked away.

"I saw that," Itachi commented, and Kisame shivered, always freaked out by how psychic Itachi seemed to be.

"How do you always know what we do?" Kisame quizzed, and Itachi smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets as they met up with Sakura and Ino. Sakura looked to Kisame and sighed- obviously, he hadn't read up on the Uchiha's as much as she had. With being one of Sasuke's (now ex) fangirls, she'd researched the Uchiha name as much as she could, and was quite shocked with what she'd found.

"Because of their psychic blood," she commented offhandedly, earning a surprised look from Ino, Kisame and Itachi. She looked to the three and shrugged.

"When I was interested in Sasuke-kun, I looked up the Uchiha name and found that you come from a long line of psychics," she told the three, who just looked at her as though she were some sort of psychotic stalker. She just sighed heavily and shook her head.

"You wanted the answer," she mumbled darkly before heading towards Shikamaru who was pressing a few buttons on the console in front of him as the rest of the group trooped through the other various doors.

"And now we play the waiting game," Gaara mumbled, taking residence on one of the soft, moth-eaten sofas that was pushed against the living room wall. Everybody sighed at this and sat in their respective areas, getting on with whatever they'd brought with them. Gaara was finishing some chemistry coursework; Shino was looking over a garden encyclopaedia. Kisame and Itachi had gotten into a riveting game of noughts and crosses whereas Chouji and Shikamaru took their shift of watching the monitors in case anything popped up. Sakura and Ino were sat in the corner, gossiping with one another about the days that had just gone.

Kakashi, however, was thinking. To the outside world, it may have looked like he was reading 'Icha Icha Paradise', but the eyes can be deceiving. He was mentally going through their current case, picking out everything that could go wrong and what they'd have to do that evening. The case that they'd received was a strange one. The landowner of the property they were currently residing in was trying to sell the area as a hotel, but whenever a few people came to stay, they'd always leave saying that something had tried to drag them from their beds and drown them in the tub. Needless to say, the landowner was worried about the place and had hired the team to try and get rid of his 'ghost problem'.

Kakashi sighed as he glanced to his team, knowing that they were going to get bored throughout the night and tried to go back to his book, before a wide-eyed brunet captured his thoughts, and he rolled his eyes at the image in his mind's eye.

Kakashi had known Iruka for at least ten years, having been the man's friend in High School. The two had vaguely crossed paths at their instance, but Kakashi was two year's Iruka's senior, so some of the time they spent together was limited, but Kakashi had always wanted to spend more time with the brunet, but when they went to separate colleges, their time together decreased, and when he'd taken on Sasuke and Itachi, their quality time was next to zero- but they would always share a pleasant phone call when they could. And when Iruka had adopted Naruto, Kakashi was slightly more inclined to visit in hopes to get Sasuke and Naruto talking to one another- but Iruka would always decline, saying that Naruto was tired from the night before- from having too many nightmares. And as Naruto had entered High School, and Sasuke entered college, Kakashi had thought it impossible for the two of them to meet up- however, chance happened to be on his side; just not in the way he had hoped- now it was more of a business visit, which he despised; he had to treat Iruka as a client, when all he really wanted to do was sit down with a cup of coffee and talk well into the night with all the things he had missed in the brunet's life.

"Kakashi! We got something in the third floor bathroom!" Shikamaru pointed out, bringing Kakashi from his musings. The visible grey eye narrowed as he took in what was happening on screen. There was obviously a spirit in there; a woman with matted long, dark hair. She was standing over a bath that seemed to be filled with water, a dark liquid spreading from the centre, and the EVP picked up, hissing with a quiet voice.

"...can...t...go...on," was briefly made out as she stepped into the bath, an old-style razor in her hands before it was drawn swiftly across her throat by her own hand. Just then the EVP picked up, a loud baby's cry piercing throughout the surroundings. Everybody covered their ears at the loud shriek that resonated throughout the house before there was a pulse of energy, wiping the screens clear.

"Troublesome ghosts," Shikamaru muttered, standing up and rebooting the system before a crash alerted everyone's attention. Standing in the doorway to the living room was the woman from the bathroom, blood dripping down her face, razor in her left hand, and something that made all of the crew pale was in her right hand.

Whereas most people would see what it was and assume it was a doll, the illusion was broken for the crew and they were able to see that it was a dead infant, obviously drowned with a slit throat.

The woman stumbled forward, crimson water falling from her mouth and drenching the carpet in front of her. Her neck wound was gushing blood, despite the fact she was already dead. Kakashi and Itachi stepped forward, shoving the younger members of the crew behind them as they faced the spirit.

"You read her case file, right?" Kakashi mumbled to Itachi, who nodded at the same time. Kakashi nodded back in return.

"I want you to distract her whilst Kisame and I go into the garden and burn her bones," Kakashi reported, and Itachi nodded once more, standing in a defensive position and withdrawing an iron dagger from his belt.

"Keep the girls safe!" Kakashi whispered, before they broke rank, Kakashi and Kisame rushing into the background, whilst the woman made a lunge for Sakura, who rolled out of the way, grabbing a discarded iron poker from the fireplace whilst she was at it and swinging it in the woman's direction. It cut through her middle and she disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Chouji looked around and caught sight of the spirit behind Ino, her razor high in the air.

"INO! DUCK!" he yelled. The blonde dove to the floor as Chouji shot in her direction with a salt round-filled shotgun, cutting through the image and shattering a vase behind it.

"Thanks Chou!" Ino yelled, her voice muffled from the carpet as she raised her fist with a thumbs-up present.

Shikamaru blinked as he felt a tugging on his ankle and looked down in shock to see that it was the 'dead' infant from the woman's arms earlier. His eyes widened as a sickening grin was sent his way, and his ankles were slashed at by a hidden razor.

"Jesus!" he mumbled, jumping onto his chair with astounding grace. The infant giggled and scuttled forward on its hands and legs up the side of the chair, and Shikamaru stepped from it, jogging slightly to the duffle bag where there was another iron poker. Just as he was about to swing it down on the child, an invisible force shoved him back, forcing his head to smash against the hard brick of the wall. Stars erupted behind his eyelids, and he blinked a bit of blood from his eyes as he saw two infants drawing closer to him. The visions disappeared, however, as a swift thud hit it in the neck, and Shikamaru looked up to be met with teal eyes.

"Thanks Gaara," Shikamaru groaned, and a small smirk was seen on the redhead's face.

"Temari would kill me if I let anything happen to her precious Shika," he muttered, helping the brunet to his feet.

Itachi grunted as he swiped at the woman who seemed intent to get the two females of the group. It was no surprise, really, considering her personal file. The spirit was a woman named Shoji Renka. She gave birth to her child at just fifteen-years-old after a rape attack. She'd taken recluse at the house, which back in the 50's had been a nunnery. However, being as young as she was, Renka couldn't handle the responsibilities of motherhood and had ended up drowning her child before killing herself in the bathroom. Despite the fact that it was a man that had caused her misery, Renka seemed to go for fertile young women as her targets, dragging them to bathrooms to give them the same treatment as her child before cutting their throats. When he'd first read the case file, Itachi had made a smart-ass remark of how mothering had been a ''cut throat' business'- to which Kakashi had fixed him with a stern glare. Kisame had been no better, about to make a dead-baby joke, which was then cut short from a fist to the face.

Nevertheless, Renka seemed intent on getting Sakura for some reason, and Itachi was having a hard time deflecting all the attacks himself. Eventually, Renka managed to get the upper hand- all the males were out of commission, leaving the females to fend for themselves. Sakura growled and shielded Ino from the woman's advances, an iron poker in her harsh grip. As Renka lunged, Sakura swept through her with a large swipe and then swept around on the spot to bludgeon the infant that was almost upon Ino.

"C'mon Ino! Help me out!" Sakura yelled to the blond, who just ran towards the duffle bag, going to grab a pistol with salt rounds before she was shot back to the wall, smashing her head against it, fainting on the spot. Sakura growled as she faced Renka head on.

"You little bitch- couldn't handle a little baby?" she snarled, going in to swipe at her again and slicing through her form.

"What the hell is taking Kakashi so long!" she ground out to herself, rolling to avoid the small child with a large razor. Sakura was about to swipe again before she was caught off guard, being tackled to the floor by the infant, the razor at her throat. Sakura stilled, and in the background she could hear Itachi groan and try to shift towards her, trying to help her. Sakura tried to lift her arms, but it felt like dead weight to her, and eventually there was a tugging sensation on her ankles before she slid across the floor.

"ITACHI!" she yelled, trying to wriggle free from the spirit's clutches, but it was in vain as she was dragged up the stairs to the second floor.

"HELP ME!" she screamed before she was smashed on the head with her own iron poker. Red mixed with pink, and before she knew what was happening, Sakura was submerged in boiling hot water, her head being pushed under whilst the sickening melody of "rock-a-by- baby" was being sung by the delusional spirit. Sakura's lungs screamed for air, and she thrashed around under the water, wanting nothing more than to get out.

"Shh baby, it's okay," Renka whispered, pulling Sakura out from under the water by her hair, and raising her arm with the razor in her hands, bringing it down to slice the pinkette's sensitive flesh over her jugular. As all hope was lost and Sakura had started praying to every deity that she wouldn't turn out a vengeful ghost, a bright light erupted from behind her eyelids where she'd closed her eyes. When no pain came, she opened her left eye to see Renka writhing in flames before eventually disappearing in an explosion of orange flames, a pulse of energy making her stumble in the bathtub, vibrating through the water and throughout the grounds. Sakura sighed in relief that it was finally over and weakly smiled, collapsing in the warm bath and splashing around a bit.

"That was too dramatic," she muttered to herself, eventually stepping out from the bath and stumbling towards the door. Before she could reach it, however, it was flung open and Itachi burst in, a panicked look on his face. She smiled at the eldest Uchiha slightly.

"Don't worry Itachi, I'm fine," she reassured, before fainting into the raven's arms, fully content with falling asleep.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
XII**

* * *

Naruto stiffened slightly as another flash of lightning and crash of thunder presented itself to the atmosphere, and Sasuke sighed when he saw the white-knuckled grip on the mug of hot chocolate.

"Dobe, are you scared of the lightning?" Sasuke teased, earning a pouty glare from the blond- unbeknownst to Naruto, the look just made him more adorable in the eyes of the raven that was having to restrain himself from pinning the other to the sofa and having his wicked way with him. Naruto sighed and looked out of the window to see the storm increasing and took a look to the now content Sasuke who was sporting some of Iruka's old clothes, what with him being larger than the blond.

"Y'know this storm is getting pretty bad- would you like to stay the night?" Naruto asked, a slight blush dusting his cheeks as he voiced the question. Sasuke's left eyebrow rose at the question before a smirk overtook his features, but he hid it behind his mug of coffee as he took a sip.

"If that's alright with Iruka-san. I'll also need to ask Kakashi- he said I might have work tonight." Sasuke explained, revelling in the fact that Naruto seemed a little deflated at the prospect of Sasuke not being able stay the evening. Sasuke quickly texted Kakashi, whilst Naruto did the same with Iruka, both having only to wait a few minutes for the reply, both of them being positive. Naruto smiled slightly, as did Sasuke when they both told each other the answer, but then Naruto frowned.

"Sasuke- where do you work? If you don't mind my asking," Naruto quizzed, wrinkling the hem of his t-shirt. Sasuke smirked and folded his arms across his chest.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Sasuke commented, and Naruto growled at the response.

"Teme, if you go with the whole 'if I told you I'm afraid I'd have to kill you' bullshit, I will kick you out into the rain!" he ground out in a playful response, and Sasuke's smirk just grew, before dropping slightly as he faced Naruto. The blond quietened as well, knowing that Sasuke was serious now and faced the raven, pulling his legs up onto the sofa to cross them, their knees gently touching and the two of them both placed their empty mugs on the coffee table at the same time.

"I work as part of a paranormal team," he stated bluntly, and Naruto blinked in return, before grinning.

"Very funny- seriously, what do you work as?" Naruto asked once again, and Sasuke sighed before turning away.

"I told you that you wouldn't believe me," he muttered, and Naruto's sapphire blues widened.

"B-but there's no such things as ghosts!" he protested, shifting closer to the raven, and Sasuke backed up slightly, making the blond know how much he had inadvertently hurt him.

"Are you calling my job a lie, ten? Are you saying that I go to people who do believe and do a load of bullshit to make them feel better and take their money? Do you think I'd do that?" Sasuke spat, and Naruto flinched back from his words.

"N-no! I- I just! I DON'T KNOW, OKAY!" Naruto yelled, losing his mind slightly, panicked at what was happening. He couldn't see Sasuke, Itachi and Kakashi making money from scared people- not if Iruka knew this person. Sasuke's eyes widened as he realised the blond's turmoil and shifted closer to him.

"I'm just not a believer! There's always a sceptic, right?_!_" he almost shrieked, grabbing his blond locks in frustration. Sasuke shifted closer and gently placed his hands over Naruto's and eased them down to his lap.

"Listen, Naruto- I'm sorry for making you stressed; I didn't want to do that. But I do believe in the paranormal, and I do believe that something strange is going on- just as Kakashi and Iruka do. We want to keep you safe from what we believe is harm, but you don't take notice of it. Just let us do our job, and you can do yours," Sasuke told the blond in such a calm and confident voice that Naruto had no choice but to listen and nod along dumbly with what the raven said.

"And besides, you must believe a little seeing as you're still wearing that pendant that weird nurse gave you," Sasuke chuckled, and Naruto blushed as Sasuke hooked his finger around the blue gem and leather strip, pulling the blond closer and leaning in towards the tanned teen. A perfect blush overrode Naruto's cheeks as he realised their position and proximity and he swallowed.

"Sh-she reminded me of my mother," Naruto muttered, and Sasuke frowned, letting go of the leather strap.

"How so, he questioned, moving closer to the blond, and Naruto swallowed once more and rubbed his sweaty palms on the legs of his sweatpants.

"J-just her looks and personality- she seemed really familiar," Naruto muttered, and Sasuke moved closer, placing a pale hand on a scarred and tanned cheek.

"Naruto, in my profession we come across many strange things; poltergeists, demons, ghouls and all other sorts of things your nightmares can't even dream up; but there is nothing that can bring back the dead for good- nothing at all," Sasuke whispered, pulling Naruto into a hug as he saw the tears leak from the crystal blue eyes.

"I'm sorry Naruto- but as much as you may wish, your mother can't come back. It's impossible," Sasuke mumbled into the tan ear, feeling regretful when he could feel the sobs wracking through the other's body.

"I just miss her so much," Naruto breathed, clinging onto the raven tighter, who returned the pressure equally. When the two broke apart, Naruto looked embarrassed and wiped at his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, and Sasuke just snorted before standing up.

"Would you like another hot chocolate, dobe?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto nodded eagerly, joining the raven in the kitchen as he made two more hot drinks. Naruto sighed and crossed his arms across his chest, flinching at the flash of thunder and the flash of lightning that followed soon after. Sasuke smiled gently- not that he'd let the blond see of course- at Naruto's antics, but frowned when he realised that the fear had most probably occurred on the night his mother had died. Eventually the kettle boiled and Sasuke made the drink before handing it to the blond, who accepted it with a small 'thanks'. Sasuke just smirked gently and Naruto sighed.

"We don't have a guest room, sorry- but you're welcome to take my bed," Naruto told Sasuke, who hummed as he followed Naruto to his room, left eye twitching as he saw that it was a queen-sized bed.

"Dobe, there's enough room for both of us on this bed," Sasuke told Naruto, placing his mug of coffee on the blond's desk, next to a photo of the blond and another raven-haired teen. Sasuke frowned at the photo as Naruto fumbled with his words and sorted out the bed and lighting so all they had to do was climb in and switch off the lamp.

"Hey, who is this?" Sasuke asked, photo frame in his hands, and Naruto approached with curiosity in his eyes, which then turned to loathing with a slight tint of fear when he saw what it was.

"A fucking prick, which deserved never to have been born! I could've sworn I'd thrown this out months ago!" he growled acidicly, stomping over to his empty bin and dumping the photograph in there on its own. Sasuke watched in shock as Naruto poured nail polish remover all over it before grabbing a box of matches, lighting one and throwing it into the bin. There was a small whoosh of flames and Sasuke backed up slightly, shocked at Naruto's aggressive behaviour. As the flames died down, Sasuke caught the light reflection of tears on Naruto's cheeks and the way he seemed to be tensed. Sasuke approached Naruto from behind and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a backwards hug. Naruto sighed heavily through his nose and leant back into the warm but firm hold, relishing in the comfort it brought.

"Sasuke, why do bad things happen to people who haven't done anything?" Naruto choked, and Sasuke blinked before turning the blond around to see him pale and shaking. Shocked, Sasuke pulled him in for a crushing hug, not wanting to feel as the blond broke down in front of him. Naruto let out a harsh cry as the thunder and lightning sounded again, burying his face into Sasuke's collarbone. The raven shushed Naruto, carding his fingers through the blond locks and led him to sit on the end of his bed. Naruto hiccupped slightly as Sasuke tucked him under the quilt and then got in beside him.

"Nobody can answer that question, Naruto. It's just one of the facts of life." Sasuke told the blond, wrapping a comforting arm around the blond's waist. Naruto hiccupped again and then whimpered when there was another flash and crash, burying himself further into Sasuke's chest.

"I wish life wasn't so unfair all the time," Naruto whispered, his voice thick with tears. Sasuke sighed once more, sorrow clouding his eyes as he pressed a gentle kiss into the blond locks.

"I know dobe, me too," Sasuke muttered, switching off the lamp and pulling the blond closer, hoping to full into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
Chapter Four: End**

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**I'm really sorry this is late! But a lot of shit happened over the New Year: my dad got ill, I went through some personal traumas of the psychiatric kind, college assignments started to build up, I was banned from the PC for a week and then my Uncle died Saturday just gone :/ So sorry this is late.**

**On a lighter note- LE SASUNARU IS COMING THROUGH AS WELL AS THE MAIN PLOT! Itr should be starting in the next couple of chapters or so :P I just hope I'll be able to update within February! (apart from this one of course).**

**Anyways, new season of The Walking Dead soon! ERMEHGURD! I'm so excited, and I'm going to the Harry Potter Studios on Thursday- awesome month is awesome!**

**I hope I'll see you guys next time ;) Don't miss me too much!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Possessed**

**xCastielsGirlx**

**Author's Note:** I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry for the lateness of updates, and just to let you know, there's most probably only gunna be about five more chapters before this comes to a close; but don't worry, I'll be filling these next few chapters with action!

**Warnings:** SasuNaru hints, swearing, violence, supernatural themes.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any 'Naruto' characters- they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Any 'legends' or 'science' that I speak of, are most likely a huge pile of BS, so please do not believe them at your own risk.

**This is a work of Fiction. Any names, places or an event linking to the real world is purely coincidental.**

**A special dedication goes to this chapter for Sara Hutchinson, my epic techie from college, who has been supplying me with the newest episodes of Supernatural, which has been giving me so much inspiration to continue writing :)**

**And to you guys, who are still with me after the update shortage. Thank you SO much!**

* * *

**5.**

Naruto stirred slightly, feeling warm and sweaty under the covers. It was only when he felt protective arms around his waist that he started to worry slightly, thinking that Sai had somehow snuck into his room at night and snuggled up to him in bed. With that thought in mind, he elbowed the person behind him in the groin, rolled out of the bed and reached for the wooden baseball bat that was in his wardrobe, ready to strike. A raven head popped up, and startled onyx eyes looked around before the phantom pain of being hit in the crotch resonated throughout his body and he doubled over, wheezing. Naruto frowned, realising that this perpetrator's voice was deeper than Sai's, and it took him a few moments to realise that it wasn't Sai, but Sasuke.

With that realisation, Naruto threw the bat to the floor and rushed over to the injured man on his bed, spouting apology after apology and placing his hands on the broad shoulders. Sasuke sent a watery glare to the blond, who swallowed in return.

"I'm really sorry!" he squeaked sincerely, still slightly freaked out at the whole event itself.

"Why'd you do that?" Sasuke growled, still wincing every time he moved. Naruto swallowed once more and then paled slightly when he remembered why he'd freaked out so bad.

"I-I forgot that it was you in the bed," he mumbled, and an onyx eyebrow rose in return at the statement.

"Who else would it be?" he quizzed, and Naruto shifted guiltily. Sasuke then caught on, glancing slightly to the metal bin that was discoloured from the flames the evening before.

"Did you think I was your ex?" Sasuke quizzed, having worked out who the person was as he was on the brink of sleep last night. By the way Naruto paled, Sasuke could assume that he'd guessed correctly and just sighed before wincing as he shifted in his position. He then noticed how dark it still was outside, and he glanced to the electric alarm clock to see that it was only half one in the morning.

"Dobe, why did you wake so early?" Sasuke asked as he settled back under the quilt, and Naruto followed, still a bit weary of Sasuke.

"I was really hot when I woke up; maybe I'm coming down with something," Naruto muttered, flinching slightly when Sasuke's cool hand came into contact with his forehead. Sasuke frowned when he felt that the blond had a normal temperature, but he was obviously feeling hot, otherwise he wouldn't have woken up so early.

"Your temperature doesn't seem to be above average," Sasuke commented, and Naruto shrugged, feeling even more tired and leant into Sasuke's personal space.

"Meh. I'll figure it out tomorrow," he yawned, and Sasuke looked down to the blond that had just invaded his personal space, and his breathing was evening out, letting Sasuke know that Naruto was on the verge of sleep once more.

"Dobe, are you sure you're okay?" Sasuke asked, a little concerned, but he was just rewarded with light snoring, and he sighed as he too, went to go back to sleep, but was disturbed with a light kick to the shin.

"God, you'd have to be a restless sleeper, wouldn't you?" Sasuke complained as Naruto twitched once more in his dreams, his hand hitting Sasuke's wrist. The raven rolled his eyes and tried to shift to get more comfortable, but was stopped when the hand on his wrist suddenly closed, making it so that he couldn't pull free. Sasuke sighed again, aggravated, and totally ignoring the pale pink blush that was trying to take residence on his cheeks.

"Dobe," he muttered, a small concerned frown taking over his face as the corner of Naruto's lips turned down into a scowl and he started to mumble incoherently, and a crease appeared on his forehead as his blond brows furrowed. Sasuke's eyes widened in realisation of what was going on when the blond let out a small whimper and curled in on himself, his hand still gripping tightly to the pale wrist. Sasuke's other hand came up to card through the blond locks, and Naruto's breath hitched before he calmed slightly, shuffling towards the raven with a slight groan. As he did so, Sasuke could feel the intense fear that rolled from the blond boy in the bed and his eyes widened. Deciding that it would be best to wake the younger male from his nightmare, Sasuke began to shake Naruto as best as he could, calling out the other's name. Blue eyes flew open in a panicked state and Sasuke was relieved when this wake-up call didn't come with an elbow to the groin.

"Sasuke, why did you wake me up?" Naruto groaned, feigning tiredness; Sasuke just snorted in return.

"Dobe, you were having a nightmare- and you wouldn't let go of my wrist," the raven explained, and the tanned hand let go of the pale skin as though it'd been burned.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sasuke asked, knowing from previous experience that talking about nightmares usually helped- well, that's what his psychiatrist had said anyway. Naruto looked hesitant and scared at the thought of telling his nightmare to the raven; it seemed a bit too intimate to him- and he obviously discarded the fact that they were sharing a bed as 'intimate'- and he didn't want to get involved with anyone any time soon after what had happened with Sai. Sasuke obviously sensed the hesitation and gently squeezed one of the tan hands that was in the gap between both bodies.

"It's okay, Naruto," he told the blond sincerely, and Naruto swallowed loudly as he debated further. Just as he was about to speak, his alarm radio blasted into existence, playing a cheesy romantic song, and Naruto squeaked in fright, falling off the bed, and Sasuke frowned at the device, noticing that it was unplugged and held no batteries.

"Dobe, why is your clock on?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto quivered behind his pillow, staring at the clock as though it were going to bite his hand off.

"It shouldn't be working- why is it working?_!_" Naruto yelled, covering his ears from the song that had distorted slightly, making a horrible noise. Sasuke frowned and looked to Naruto's chest where the blue crystal seemed to be giving off some strange vibes. Naruto- of course- was oblivious to the object, just covering his ears and cringing away from the radio. Sasuke growled lowly in the back of his throat and clenched the object tighter. His eyes squeezed closed for a moment and then re-opened, glaring at the alarm clock. Sasuke's vision was in a hue of red, and all detail in the room seemed to magnify, especially the grainy black substance that seemed to be hanging around the clock. A short cry from the blond behind him reminded Sasuke that he wasn't alone in the room and that he did have company. He glared at the black substance that was manifesting itself around the clock and subtly made some shapes with his hands before placing two fingers dead into the centre of the mass. At that instant, the black mass dispersed in a small fireball that had Naruto squeaking in surprise and cowering behind the bed further. Sasuke just sighed and pushed his bangs out of his face, blinking his eyes until his vision returned to normal. He turned to see Naruto cowering away from him slightly.

"Naruto?" Sasuke quizzed gently, extending his hand forward. As soon as it made contact with the tanned arm, Naruto fainted, collapsing forward into Sasuke's arms that had risen to catch him. Surprised, Sasuke just leant Naruto backwards to see that his eyes were shut and his breathing shallow.

"Naruto?" Sasuke quizzed, gently tapping the scarred cheeks. There was no response. Sasuke then tried again, shaking the blond and slapping his cheeks.

"Doe! Wake up!" he almost yelled, wanting nothing more than for Naruto to open his eyes. Frustrated, Sasuke's vision blurred red once more and he placed his palm to Naruto's forehead, trying to read his thoughts. He was in for quite a shock when white spots burst from behind his eyelids and he felt as though he'd been shocked by ten-thousand volts of electricity. He glanced to the crystal necklace that hung around the tan neck and gasped when he saw that it was surrounded by a white glow, even through the red hue.

"No way," he gasped, sitting up straight and watching with awe as the white mass glided over the blond's body. He sat still, just observing as the white mass continued what it was doing. There was no way that Sasuke was going to interfere with what it was doing; he knew what this entity was, and he'd be damned if he was going to get in its way. Uchiha Sasuke was in no way a coward, and this was _not_ an act of treachery on the blond. After all, not many people in the supernatural world believed in what he was seeing what with all the bad shit that went on in the world. But to Sasuke, this just made him feel even worse; to know these things existed, but that everything bad that happened in the world still happened made him feel abandoned; as though everything he was fighting for was useless. He'd never felt so defeated in his life, and it hurt. After about five minutes, the white essence dispersed into a thin fog before disappearing completely, and Naruto stirred on his bed, opening hazy blue eyes to see Sasuke sat up in his bed, looking lost.

"Teme? What's wrong? Why are you up this early?" Naruto asked, stretching his arms above his head. Sasuke blinked at Naruto and turned to look at the 'broken' alarm-clock that showed half-three in the morning. He then turned back to Naruto, who was staring at him weirdly.

"Naruto, do you remember anything that just happened?" Sasuke asked, testing his theory, and Naruto looked at him with a weird look.

"I remember feeling pretty down and then I fell asleep; why?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke almost wanted to punch the wall in frustration at what had happened.

"No reason," Sasuke clipped in a short reply, and Naruto shrunk back a bit.

"Are you okay Sasuke?" he asked gently, his warm hand touching the pale skin that felt a little cold and onyx eyes snapped to meet with cerulean blue that were slightly tinted with fear. Sasuke then forced himself to calm down and gave Naruto a slight smile.

"Yeah, I'm just having an inner crisis," Sasuke blagged, and Naruto smiled slightly in return.

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked, not knowing that Sasuke had uttered those words not ten minutes before. Sasuke smirked and just glanced down to the blond that was obviously worrying about him.

"I'm fine, dobe." Sasuke reassured, earning a disapproving frown from Naruto, who obviously didn't believe a word that Sasuke had said.

"Bullshit," Naruto stated, and Sasuke sighed in return, a smirk on his features as he shook his head.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you anyways," Sasuke completed, and now Naruto was fully curious and had sat up, crossing his legs. Sasuke briefly took notice of how their knees brushed but his attention was redirected when Naruto poked him in the chest.

"Now you _have_ to tell me," Sasuke looked up to see that Naruto had a gentle smile on his face, and Sasuke felt bad for bringing it up seeing as Naruto was obviously in a good mood. Sasuke just sighed heavily and decided to lie- it was an easier option.

"I just had a religious experience- God is a douche," Sasuke told the blond. Naruto frowned at the statement and Sasuke felt guilty for ruining the mood.

"Well, at least you believe in something," Naruto told Sasuke, and the raven frowned in return.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, and looked to Naruto, whose eyes were despondent and misty. Sasuke swallowed as he realised that Naruto was close to crying.

"E-ever since what happened with my mother, I've been not wanting to believe in anything- I drilled it into my head that it was just an animal attack and that there was no higher power," Naruto whispered, and took Sasuke's hand into his own.

"I stopped believing in everything; angels, ghosts, demons. There was just no way they could exist. I drowned my mind in science and even took it for an A-Level so I could forget everything. But now you just walk into my life and I just don't know what to believe anymore," Naruto confessed, and Sasuke startled when he felt a wet drop on his hand and he felt terrible when he saw that Naruto's eyes were squeezed shut, tears relentlessly pouring down his cheeks.

"I want to believe in _something_ but I just can't. Not when so much has happened!" he gasped, and Sasuke felt a tug in his heart, and just pulled Naruto against his chest, running his fingers through the blond locks, trying to calm the younger male. Naruto just sobbed even harder, being reminded of his mother when she would comfort him from nightmares when he was younger. There was a light knock at the door, and Sasuke glanced around to see Iruka standing in the doorway.

"Is everything alright?" he uttered in a sleepy voice- his hair was loose of its ponytail and hung around his shoulders, his pyjamas ruffled. Sasuke just sighed in return and nodded to Iruka, who sighed and also sat on the end of Naruto's bed, placing a calming touch to the tanned ankle. The blond flinched slightly at the touch, but Iruka just shushed him, causing Naruto to relax into the body in front of him, squeezing his arms around the broad frame tighter. Tears leaked from the closed eyes and dripped onto the shirt, creating a wet patch. Sasuke sighed once more, and Iruka smiled apologetically at Sasuke. Sasuke rolled his eyes in return, a smile gracing his lips. The two continued in their silent/mind-reading conversation until Naruto's breathing evened out once more and it was certain that he'd fallen asleep. Sasuke gently tried to prise Naruto from himself, but it was futile as Naruto just buried his face further into the crook of Sasuke's neck, seeking the warmth there. Iruka smirked gently at the raven, and Sasuke just resigned with a weak glare.

"Look like you're his teddy bear this morning, Uchiha," Iruka told him in a whisper, and Sasuke rolled his eyes. With a final ruffle of blond spikes, Iruka left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Naruto and Sasuke in the darkness. Sasuke slowly lowered the two of them back onto the bed and struggled to put the covers over them when Naruto was clinging to him like a baby koala even in his sleep. And as Sasuke settled down to go back to sleep, there was a light kick to his shin, and he pulled back slightly to see that Naruto was snoozing with a light smile on his face. Sasuke groaned.

Damn the fact that Naruto was an active sleeper.

* * *

**~Possessed~  
XIII**

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Itachi sighed as he noted down Sakura's condition from the end of her bed at the group's headquarters. His fingers slipped beneath his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose.

"Troublesome ghosts," he muttered, placing the clipboard onto the end of the bed when he heard a light snort.

"That's my phrase," Itachi turned to the voice that had spoken to see Shikamaru leaning against the door frame. Itachi smirked slightly before glancing back to the sleeping girl on the bed. Shikamaru stepped forward and glanced at Sakura before clapping Itachi on the shoulder.

"She'll be fine; she just needs rest," Shikamaru assured him, and Itachi nodded.

"I know that; but I just can't help but worry about all of you. You're so much younger than me and yet-"

"We're only a few years younger than you, Itachi," Shikamaru interrupted, and Itachi huffed, facing Sakura once more as she stirred on the bed. Shikamaru smirked at the elder once more and just shook his head at the worry that was shown in his eyes. Just as Itachi was about to say something else, there was a crashing sound from the front door, and both males jumped a foot in the air and were swept back as a green blur sped into the room and screeching to a halt beside Sakura's head, grabbing her hand in a gentle but firm grip.

"Sakura-san! Are you okay?_!_" the man decided to ask the unconscious figure. Itachi and Shikamaru blanched before grimacing in embarrassment.

"Lee, she's sleeping," Shikamaru told the man- Lee- who just looked up, giving view to a pair of large dark eyebrows and a bowl haircut. He still didn't let go of the soft hand though.

"But what is to happen with her youth! She cannot waste time sleeping!" Lee insisted, and Itachi groaned.

"She's recovering, Lee, leave her be," the elder groaned out in frustration, and Lee nodded, plopping himself down on a chair with a straight back and perfect posture, still holding her hand.

"Then I shall wait with her- the springs of love know no boundaries!" he proclaimed dramatically, tears streaming down his face. Shikamaru just slapped his own face in exasperation and Itachi rolled his eyes as he observed the green-clad man by the bed.

Rock Lee was twenty-three years old. He had excelled in biological science in university before trying to look for a part-time job. Despite the fact that he'd studied science at a younger age, the paranormal world had always enthralled him, which resulted in him investigating supposed 'haunted sites' on his own with his own equipment. It was quite a coincidence that one night when Kakashi and Itachi had been investigating that they came across Lee doing his own investigation. At first, Kakashi was weary about Lee's motives, but as soon as the black-haired boy had saved Kakashi from a particularly nasty poltergeist attack (in which if he hadn't, Kakashi would be bald and without an eye) for him to be only lightly trusted. By the end of the night, Lee had been offered a job with Kakashi and his crew, to which he accepted gratefully.

Lee sighed as he looked at Sakura, still lying still on the bed. He'd taken a liking to her ever since he'd first locked eyes with her, proclaiming her love for the youngest Uchiha. Lee, of course, didn't see this as an obstacle, but just doubled his efforts to gain Sakura's affections, ranging from chocolate presents to asking her out on continuous amounts of dates. However, the past month and a bit, Sakura had seemed a bit more open to Lee's advances, even accepting a date to go to the cinema with him to see the latest Bond film, which had ended on a high note when Sakura had kissed the other on the cheek before entering her home.

Itachi glanced to the couple by the bed and exited the room, Shikamaru following behind him, hands lazily shoved in his pockets. As Itachi entered the office, Shikamaru tailed along, closing the door behind them as he did so, and then dumping himself on the sofa that was by the window, once again, being pelted by rain.

"I wonder when this storm is gunna let up," Shikamaru mumbled, a bit confused as to the terrible weather that they were having for the past few months. Itachi eyed the window, a light flickering dancing across the skies catching his attention.

"Y'know, I've heard that powerful entities can distort the weather," he mumbled, and Shikamaru hummed in agreement, the rain on the windows creating patterns on his face as a weak light shone through.

"What are you thinking?" Shikamaru asked Itachi, turning to face the man, who was sat at a desk, fingers linked, chin resting atop them, eyes staring at something in the distance.

"I think something's going on in this town," Itachi stated, not lifting his gaze from whatever he was staring at, and Shikamaru managed to lift his body up so he was no longer laying down. His brown eyes had widened slightly, and there was little trace of his previous laziness.

"Elaborate, please?" Shikamaru asked, and Itachi finally broke his gaze away from the back of the room and turned to meet brown with blood red, black flecks spinning dangerously.

"There's a demon in Konoha. And not just a small one either; I can feel it. It's strong, dangerous and going to kill," Itachi relayed, and Shikamaru was now fully sitting up.

"Well can you tell where it is?" he demanded, and the red from Itachi's eyes disappeared, making the elder Uchiha gasp with pain, covering his eyes with his hands.

"N-no; it won't let me see, dammit!" Itachi snapped, on the verge of growling with frustration. Shikamaru stood and approached Itachi's desk, leaning forward and taking the large hands away from the raven's face.

"Itachi, we need to find it," he stated firmly, and Itachi nodded, obviously knowing this, but not being able to do anything about it.

"We need to contact Kakashi- where is he?" Itachi asked, and Shikamaru sighed in resignation.

"He went to go visit Iruka, and to tell Sasuke about Sakura. They may not be that close, but Sasuke would never abandon a comrade," Shikamaru mumbled, going back to slouch on the sofa once more. Now that they knew about why the weather was so bad, the whole thing had a sinister air about it, and it made Shikamaru uneasy.

"How much time do we have?" Shikamaru asked once more as Itachi pulled out his phone to text Kakashi the details of what they had just discovered.

"I couldn't be sure exactly, but it seemed like we have quite a while; it's still in the early stages," Itachi groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Shikamaru hummed slightly in contentment and settled back into the sofa.

"It's a good thing you caught the symptoms early then, otherwise we'd all be screwed," he chuckled, and Itachi let out a small snort of laughter.

"Yeah, woe would've been us," he snickered, wincing slightly at the headache induced by using his bloodline ability.

"Although I don't think it'll be easy. Demon exorcisms never are," Itachi mumbled, and Shikamaru stiffened on the sofa.

"A demon?" he clarified, and Itachi nodded, gripping his head in pain once more as foreign blood cells started to activate, making his eyes bleed red.

"Fuck, it's actually pretty strong," Itachi tried to joke as blood trickled steadily from his nose and onto the desk. Shikamaru jumped up at that.

"Itachi, stop using your Sharingan; you'll damage yourself!" Shikamaru ordered, but Itachi wasn't having it and just stemmed his nosebleed with the cuff of his black shirt. As Shikamaru went to grab Itachi's wrist, a pulse of energy emanated from the older male, causing Shikamaru to stumble back and fall onto his behind, and he stared up at Itachi who was now pinned to the wall by an invisible force. At that moment, Shikamaru panicked.

"He scrambled up and headed to the closet at the side of the room, wrenching out a small wooden crossed, blessed by a Shinto monk. Desperately, he made his way over to Itachi and slammed the cross over where the raven's heart would be before he started muttering in Latin. The wooden cross was heated under Shikamaru's hand, but he held it there, firm and unmoving as he continued the cleansing ritual. With one final shout from the brunet, the energy surrounding Itachi was gone, and he dropped like a ragdoll to the floor, nose still bleeding, eyes weakly open but back to their usual onyx colour. Shikamaru crawled over to him and checked for breathing, letting out a brief sigh of relief when he felt short pants of breath on the back of his hand. He rolled Itachi onto his back and observed the tired man below him when the door to the office crashed open, revealing a hassled Kisame, eyes worried as he searched around the room.

"I felt a disturbance and there was a load of crashing and-" he cut himself off with a huge gasp when he saw the unconscious Itachi lying on the ground, groaning in pain, blood on his face. Kisame made a beeline for the injured Uchiha, practically power-sliding on his knees as he got closer, gently cradling the head of black hair on his thighs.

"Oh my Gosh, Itachi are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened? Did you get attacked? Is it dead? Can you see me? How many fingers am I holding up?_!_" he hysterically screeched, thrusting three fingers into Itachi's line of sight. Shikamaru sighed at the sight and folded his arms across his chest.

"Troublesome," he mumbled as Kisame continued to spout nonsense, worrying over Itachi like a mother would. Of course, it totally threw Shikamaru off-track when Kisame leant down and practically smothered Itachi's face in kisses when he mumbled that he was fine.

"Kisame," Itachi groaned, and Kisame instantly leant up, face flushing.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" he squeaked, still worried sick for the man below him.

"We have company," Itachi stated, and Kisame looked around him to see that not only was Shikamaru in the room, but Lee had left the sanctuary of Sakura's bedside to see what the disturbance was, along with Gaara, Chouji and Ino. Kisame flushed dangerously before huffing and avoiding their confused glances.

"So what happened?" Kisame asked, ignoring Ino's giggles. Itachi sat up, grimacing when his head span dangerously before he was steadied by Kisame's strong hands.

"I was doing a quick scan of Konoha when I caught on to a demon; he wouldn't let me go," Itachi briefly explained, and Shikamaru nodded as if to clarify for those who didn't believe the raven.

"I then performed a cleansing ritual," Shikamaru bluntly stated, and Gaara's eyes snapped to Shikamaru to search for any traces of harm on him, only seeing reddened skin on the palm of his right hand.

"Don't worry, Gaara, it's not as if Temari will go ape over a small burn," he nonchalantly shrugged, and Gaara sighed.

"It's your funeral," he mumbled, walking into the room to sit on the sofa by the window.

"So what was going on with this demon of yours, Itachi?" Gaara asked, starting the discussion that was sure to be a long one. Itachi wiped the blood away from his mouth and nose and climbed back onto his desk chair with the help of Kisame.

"It's going to attack, but from what I could gather, it'll be a good amount of time away, we have months to prepare. We may even be able to get it before it attacks; I managed to get a vague area of where it'll be residing." Itachi explained, searching the desk for a notepad and pen, wincing when a drip of blood came from his nose again. A tissue was then clamped over his nose, as well as the bridge being pinched, and he glanced up to see Kisame grinning happily at him. Itachi just rolled his eyes but a soft smile overtook his lips. He scrawled down a load of notes for Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura before going back to talking to the group, as well as dragging a map and mathematical compass towards him and inserting a pencil into the hole.

"Now, I managed to get a general area, but it is quite vague; but not as bad as trying to cover the whole of Konoha," Itachi explained, and most of the crew smiled. Konoha was a large land, at least twenty miles in diameter, so to have it narrowed down was a relief itself. Even if it was just narrowed down by five miles, it was still less time and money to be spent on dead ends.

"I managed to get it within a five mile radius," Itachi stated, placing the sharp tip of the compass to where the map was locating their headquarters and in one swift movement, drew a circle around the area. Most of crew grew silent, mixed emotions running through them. Relief that they didn't have to travel that far and that they had a while to locate it, but fear and anticipation that it was so close to them.

"Will we need to call in the others? How strong is it?" Kisame asked, pulling the bloodied tissue away from Itachi's nose and replacing it with another clean one. Itachi looked up to Kisame and then to the others gathered in the room.

"We're going to have to call in Orochimaru's team, yes," he mumbled, and that statement was met with many paling faces.

"Wh-do we _have_ to have Orochimaru? Why can't we just have the others?" Ino stuttered, not at all liking the prospect of working with the other paranormal team leader. Itachi glanced to Ino.

"We wouldn't go on a case without Kakashi. It's the same with them," Itachi told Ino, who shuddered once more.

"Then take me off this case. I refuse to work with that… that… that _nut job_!" she squeaked, backing away, and Itachi groaned.

"Look, I know Orochimaru isn't exactly the sanest person in the world, but his methods have results, and he's tackled demons before, so it should be better. If you want to be taken off this case, then there's nothing that I can do except request that you don't come back," Itachi told her coldly, and Ino bristled.

"But what about Sasuke? He's abandoned jobs in the past! Do you favour him because he's your little brother?_!_" Ino huffed, and Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Sasuke will be fully required for this case- you have the option to back out every other time; I wouldn't deny you returning if you had skipped out on smaller cases, but this one involves the whole of Konoha, and you'd do best to remember that," Itachi stated, and the blond haired girl tensed before snapping her head to the side.

"Fine. I'll work this case; but don't let that _freak_ anywhere near me!" she spat, and Itachi smiled slightly.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Ino. You have my word that if he tries anything, you will be able to be temporarily off the case," Itachi told her, and she smiled slightly.

"Now, does our mystery demon have a name?" Kisame asked, ruffling his hands through Itachi's hair. Itachi nodded, scratching the name down onto the paper and underlining it three times.

"Kyuubi."

* * *

**~Possessed~  
XIV**

* * *

Sasuke awoke to a hand hitting his face. He snorted awake and sat up to see that Naruto was spread out in the middle of the bed, snoring lightly, a tiny puddle of drool by his mouth. Despite how unattractive the scene should've been, Sasuke couldn't help but let a small smile grace his lips.

"Well, don't you move fast," came a calm voice, and Sasuke let out an unmanly shriek, spinning around to be met with messy silver hair and an eye patch. Sasuke placed a hand over his racing heart and glared at his guardian.

"What-" Sasuke blushed when his voice cracked and went a few octaves higher before he cleared his throat and recomposed himself.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a much deeper voice, and Kakashi smiled brightly at the reaction he had caused.

"Why, I'm checking up on the house and my darling adoptive son!" he told the raven who growled, eyes flitting to the stirring blond before dragging the grey-haired man out of the room and down the stairs so they could talk in the lounge. Iruka looked out of the kitchen as they passed and smiled, drying a bowl with a tea towel.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun! Would you like a cup of coffee or tea at all?" Iruka asked cheerfully, and Sasuke smiled slightly.

"A cup of coffee if that's not too much trouble, please," Sasuke requested, and Iruka nodded, disappearing back into the kitchen whilst Sasuke dragged Kakashi into the living room.

"You wanted to talk?" Sasuke growled, not at all pleased that Kakashi had witnessed Naruto in his pyjamas and morning state. As crazy as it seemed, Sasuke felt that only close people of Naruto should be privileged enough to see that view. A brief parasite of a thought then crossed Sasuke's mind that Naruto's ex-boyfriend had got to witness him like that, and a glint of jealousy stabbed through his heart, causing him to glare at Kakashi slightly. Kakashi smirked underneath his mask at the thoughts that were crossing through Sasuke's mind. He wasn't a full psychic, but Sasuke was really an open book to him, having known the raven from a young age.

"Here's your coffee," Iruka told Sasuke, entering the living room, snapping Sasuke out of his angsting. The raven turned to Iruka, the scowl melting from his features and being replaced with a small upturn of the lips.

"Thank you Iruka-san," Sasuke told the adult, who just nodded in return and sat beside Kakashi.

"So what were you two talking about?" he inquired, looking between the two of them as if hoping to find out the secrets behind them both. Sasuke edged slightly onto his other foot and Kakashi coughed lightly, the air in the room becoming awkward.

"We weren't talking about anything," Kakashi stated, and Iruka just sighed.

"Right, and I'm the Queen of Georgia; what were you talking about?" Iruka pressed, and Sasuke had to smirk slightly when he saw that Iruka had Kakashi wrapped firmly around his little finger. Kakashi sighed and looked to Iruka sheepishly.

"I was gunna ask Sasuke about Naruto," he confessed, and Sasuke's head snapped to the side to glare at Kakashi for spilling the beans. Iruka's eyes narrowed and he glared at Sasuke, who was glaring at Kakashi, the whole room filled with tension.

"And what, exactly, were you going to be discussing?" Iruka asked, icicles dripping from his voice, and Sasuke flinched slightly, Kakashi mimicking his movement.

"Well, with what happened at the hospital, I think it's important that we kept tabs on Naruto-kun. And seeing as Sasuke was here for the evening, I was going to ask if there was anything strange that had happened during the evening," Kakashi explained, withering slightly under Iruka's intense gaze. Dark brown then snapped to look at Sasuke with an exasperated hue.

"Do you _really_ have to do this?" he asked sceptically and Sasuke shrugged.

"If Kakashi thinks is best then I recommend it," he told Iruka, who groaned in annoyance and folded his arms across his chest.

"As much as I appreciate what you're doing, I would like some sort of privacy for Naruto- he's been through quite enough," Iruka stated, and Kakashi averted his visible eye.

"I know it's going to be hard for him, and for you, but I believe that something very sinister is going after Naruto. You know I wouldn't make this up, Iruka, and I'm begging you; let us observe him more." Kakashi stated, and Iruka's resolve was fading slightly as he locked eyes with the older man. A shifting from the hall caught their attention, and three heads turned to the direction of the noise to see Naruto standing in his pyjamas, cup of tea in his hands.

"Nice to know that my life is being decided behind my back," he told them coldly, and all three looked like deer caught in the headlights. Sasuke swallowed slightly as he took in the hurt in the blue eyes before fiddling with the handle of his mug.

"Now, Naruto, you need to understand that as long as there's a danger for you, I'll always do what's best to keep you safe from it!" Iruka told Naruto, who flinched back from the comforting hand, eyes betraying how bad he felt.

"I'm eighteen, Iruka- I'm an adult and I think I know what's best for me!" Naruto stated, his voice cracking slightly at his speech. Kakashi respectfully kept silent, but Sasuke wanted to try and reassure the blond.

"Naruto, I know from experience that the things that are best for you aren't always the most ideal things," Sasuke told the blond, trying to get him to understand from experience, but Naruto just scoffed.

"Who do you think you are? Coming into my life like this; it's a wonder that I haven't called the police on you both!" Naruto told them angrily, and at this point, Kakashi had to make an entrance.

"Naruto, please hear us out. There's been quite a bit of paranormal activity around this area that we can't overlook; it's for your safety!" he stated, trying not to raise his voice. Naruto just scoffed at that.

"Bullshit! There's nothing wrong with me, or this house, or anything!" he yelled. Sasuke then growled at that and marched up to the blond and grabbing the necklace that still hung around his neck.

"Then why do you still have this?" he growled, getting into Naruto's personal space. Naruto answered with another growl and wrenched himself free of Sasuke's grip.

"If it's so fucking important to you, why don't you take it?" he roared, ripping it from around his neck and throwing it at the raven, who flinched and caught it in his hand, wincing when he felt how hot it was.

"I'm sick and tired of people thinking they know what's best for me! It happened when I was younger; it happened at the foster homes, it happened with Sai so goddammit I won't let it happen now!" he yelled, turning on his heel and storming up the stairs to his room. Iruka stood, jaw hanging low at Naruto's attitude, and Sasuke just scrambled out of the room and followed Naruto up the stairs, calling after him.

"Naruto! Wait up!" Sasuke called, reaching the landing and jogging down the corridor only to have the bedroom door slammed in his face and the sound of a lock clicking meeting his ears.

"Fuck off!" was the answering yell, and Sasuke flinched at the curse word. Downstairs, he could hear Kakashi and Iruka discussing what was going on.

"Naruto, please; open the door so I can explain!" Sasuke asked, leaning against the wooden barrier. On the other side, Naruto was pacing around his room violently lashing out, kicking pieces of furniture.

"I can hear you through the door; explain," he snapped, viciously opening a drawer and pulling on some clothes, as well as stuffing some into a backpack along with his phone charger and a few essentials, such as his toothbrush and deodorant.

"We're really worried about you, Naruto. Not just because of some 'supernatural being' but because you're acting out," Iruka's voice had now joined in, and Naruto froze slightly, looking into the depths of his bag, trying to blink away the tears that had gathered in his eyes.

"I haven't been acting out; you try falling from an elevator and see how you react for the few days afterwards." He told them, and he could hear Iruka sighing.

"I know we haven't given you much time to adjust, and that wasn't very nice of us, but please," Kakashi's voice had now joined in and Naruto's anger was fuelled once more.

"No." was the simple statement that came from Naruto's mouth, and he heard Iruka gasp clearly.

"Naruto? Naruto, what are you doing in there?_!_" Iruka yelled, and Naruto grimaced towards the three inches of wood that separated him from his foster father before he approached his window, backpack slung over his shoulder.

"I'm thinking," he replied gently before climbing out and grabbing onto the drainpipe that was beside his window and would usually splatter his window with overrun water in the rainy seasons. He shimmied down and when there was only a four-foot drop, he let go and landed on the ground with a soft thud. With one last look towards the window of the house he called home, he set off in a direction where he knew he'd be accepted.

Naruto knew that Iruka didn't approve of this particular friend, but Naruto couldn't care less, it was the last place where his foster parent would look and it'd give him enough time to cool his head and think things over. Rain had started to fall from the sky and Naruto looked up to see rolling storm clouds on their way.

'_Great'_, he thought to himself sarcastically as his left foot splashed in a puddle. The water was displaced before settling, only to be broken again when fat raindrops started to fall into it. Naruto knew to avoid the main streets and took many back roads, cutting through alleyways. He approached the graveyard and decided to cut through there, ducking behind all sorts of different tombs and graves. A police car with flashing sirens drove past and Naruto ducked behind an angel statue. He crouched down low and glanced around the stone to see that the police car had moved on. He let out a sigh of relief and faced forward, freezing up when he saw where he was.

Konoha Cemetery really was a beautiful place to be buried. There were a few different gardens, all filled with flowers, but currently, Naruto couldn't help but shiver at his surroundings, and it wasn't from the cold. He knew where this place was from visiting it many years ago; only the once. He wondered through the maze of headstones, some with fresh flowers, to end up at one that had been unkempt with a long-dead flower on top. Naruto stumbled forward, falling to his knees, muddying his trousers as he stared at the inscription on the headstone. Shakily, his hand reached out to caress the engraving, a few hot tears spilling from his eyes. A yell broke him out of his trance, however, and he stumbled up, slipping as he ran away from the voice that had sounded too familiar for his liking. He hopped the fence at the back of the cemetery and continued running along the back alleys until he reached the edge of Konoha's very own forest. It was the source of many pranks for the local adolescents, Naruto himself having been dared to camp out for an evening in the supposedly haunted area, only to return the next day completely unfazed. Naruto sighed in relief partially as he knew that his refuge was on the other side of this forest. He set off into the Greenland, pushing his way past foliage, ignoring spider's webs and twigs that snapped underfoot. The only thing he could register was is harsh breathing as he kept on running and the warm damp of the rain from the falling trees.

The ground came to meet him unexpectedly as his ankle caught on a stray oak root, and he looked back from his place on the floor to see it embedded in the ground innocently.

"Fucking tree," he whispered, before the sound of cracking twigs caught his attention, and his head snapped up, looking around him frantically to find the disturbance from his epic running journey. He only had about fifteen more minutes before he'd reach his haven, away from all the people that would lie to him and try to control his life. He winced slightly as he tried to stand, but his ankle wouldn't support him.

"Fucking tree!" he repeated, glaring at the root as if to accuse it for all of his life's problems. His attention was drawn back to his ankle, however, and he tried once more to put some weight on it, only to fall to the ground again.

"Dammit!" he growled, pushing himself up and leaning again the tree that had caused his injury, resting his head against the trunk and glancing up to the canopy of leaves above him and admiring the view before looking to his right in the direction of where he'd be going. He took his phone from his pocket, ignoring the seven missed calls from Iruka, and turned his phone off so that it couldn't be tracked. He needed some time alone. Sliding down the trunk of the tree, Naruto's eyes grew hazy from the pain in his ankle, and he turned his head to the side when there was a light cracking of twigs only to see a fox cub, fluffy and wet. A small smile graced Naruto's lips as he gazed at the creature before he realised it was shivering. The smile switched to a frown and Naruto found himself pulling out a sandwich that had been at the bottom of his bag for quite a while and holding it out to the cub. It slowly drew closer, sniffing the ham and cheese sandwich before taking it into its mouth and chewing on it. Chuckling, Naruto drew out one of his thick orange hoodies and beckoned the creature closer. It plodded closer, it's tiny feet taking many steps and indenting the ground before it leapt into the blond's jean-clad lap, nuzzling his wet nose into Naruto's equally wet, tan neck. A small bubble of laughter erupted from Naruto's throat and he gazed sleepily at the fox cub before him.

"Hey kit," he whispered, before his head slumped forwards, exhaustion taking over him, leading the world into a black blur.

The fox sat on his lap for a while longer, burrowing into the soft and warm material of the orange hoodie that the blond had produced and then licking the nose of the human above him, whimpering when it was cold. Soft paws padded at the V-neck covered chest, trying to gauge a response from the human. There was a low growling noise from the shadows of a nearby bush, and the sky darkened, the raindrops becoming heavier; and yet the blond hadn't stirred. The cub yipped in warning, but soon it was pounced upon, a bundle of disfigured orange fur and blood next to the blond. A snarl and a snap later, blood started to pool around the blond, who still remained unconscious against the tree.

* * *

**Possessed  
Chapter Five: End**

* * *

**First of all, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while but college is weighing me down and I got dragged into the 00Q fandom, and where I've caught up on 'Supernatural' my Destiel fangirl is coming back again.**

**Secondly, I'm sorry this is 25% shorter than usual, but if I hadn't have uploaded it now, you'd be waiting so much longer as after the final part, I had no idea how to go about it :/**

**Plus that and a cliff hanger ;)**

**Anyways, thank you SO SO SO much if you're still with me on this as I know I haven't been keeping up with updates!**

**I'll see you next month, maybe? Until then I hope you have a wonderful time!**


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